


After School: Bangtan

by kruu



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), GOT7, Monsta X (Band), NCT (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Comedy, Drama, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, jinkook - Freeform, multifandom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2019-07-20 09:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 49,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16134044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kruu/pseuds/kruu
Summary: Jungkook and the rest of Bangtan are your typical band of delinquents. But what happens when the paths of delinquents and a pretentious, rich high school boy collide?Romance, drama, fluff, comedy, and a bunch of other high school antics.





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> this story is also on my wattpad @kruutinari. check it out pls. also, i experiment with my writing style a bit in this. just a heads up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reposting chapter 1 cause i fixed it

**MONDAY** : **SEPTEMBER 4TH**

**IN FRONT OF SEOUL HIGH SCHOOL, 8:30 A.M.**

 

 **MOTHER:** Do you have everything you need? Your books? Pencils? Folders?

 **JIN:** _(checking his bag)_ Run down an entire checklist, why don't you? I have everything, mom.

 **MOTHER** : I'm sorry that you're father couldn't make it, you know how busy he gets.

 **JIN:** _(rolls eyes)_  He does this every year with the same stupid excuse, stop apologizing for him.

 **MOTHER:** _(frowns)_ Don't let it ruin your day, alright? I love you.  _(kisses his cheek)_

 **JIN:** _(kisses her cheek back)_  Love you too.  _(turns to walk away, waving)_

**MOTHER:** _(smiles, waving back)_

_(jin's walking to the entrance of the school)_

**GIRL #1:** Are those new shoes?

 **GIRL #2:** They look expensive.

 **GIRL #1:** He's rich, right?

 **GIRL #3:**  He's so handsome!

_(jin smirks)_

_(2 boys are playing soccer on the far left of the field located in the front of the school)_

_(one of them kicks the ball too hard, sending it flying across the field, almost hitting jin)_

**JIN:**  What the hell?  _(looks in the direction in which the ball came from)_

_(a boy is walking over. his shirt is untucked and his brown hair is messy)_

**JUNGKOOK** : Sorry about that. Close call though, right?

 **JIN:**   _(annoyed)_  Close call? You could have broken my nose!

 **JUNGKOOK** : I admit that I kicked it hard but not that hard. You're over exaggerating.

 **JIN:**   _(turns to face jungkook)_  I bet you wouldn't be saying that shit if you had to pay my medical bills.

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(now annoyed too)_  Like hell I would.

 **JIN:**  I should sue you for endangering my life!

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(now in jin's face)_  Now look here-

 **TAEHYUNG:**   _(running over to jungkook and jin)_ Jungkook!

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(cracking his knuckles)_  One sec.

 **JIN:**  Oh? What, you're gonna beat my ass in front of the school and get yourself suspended?

 **JUNGKOOK:**  You've got one more time to say something slick out of your mouth, Kim  _Seok-jin_.

 **JIN:**  So you know my name huh?

 **JUNGKOOK:**  You're the most cliche, arrogant popular pretty boy that I've ever seen in my life and I've wanted nothing but to punch you in your jaw since 9th grade.

 **JIN:**  Ah, so you're a long term fan.

_(jungkook raises his right arm, in position to punch jin)_

_(taehyung grabs said arm, pulling jungkook back)_

**TAEHYUNG:**  Classes haven't even started yet, Jungkook. Chill out, will you?

 **JIN:**   _(looks taehyung up and down)_  Thanks for detaining the beast.  _(walks away)_  I'll be going now.

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(struggles in taehyung's hold)_   _ **Fuck**_  you, Kim Seok-jin!

 

**SCHOOL AUDITORIUM, 9:45 A.M.**

 

_(the assembly has ended)_

_(jin is sitting in the chair, looking over all of the papers that were given to him by the school)_

_(jisoo walks over)_

**JISOO:**   _(is standing in front of him)_  Seok-jin.

 **JIN:**   _(looks up)_  Jisoo.

 **JISOO:**  I wanna know what happened earlier, with that boy.

 **JIN:**   _(confused)_  Whom?

 **JISOO:**  Jungkook!

 **JIN:**   _(returns to looking at papers_ ) Oh. Nothing really, just exchanged some words.

 **JISOO:**  It looked like he was about to knock your teeth out. What did you do?

 **JIN:**  Does it matter?

 **JISOO:** _(hands on hips)_  Seeing as he was about to beat your ass in front of everyone, ultimately ending up in your embarrassment, I'd say it does. Do you know him?

 **JIN:**  I met him in the 9th grade when he came to one of the school's basketball games.

 **JISOO:**  So why does he hate you so much?

 **JIN:**   _(annoyed)_  God you're so nosy, you know that? Don't you have some friends to go gossip with?

 **JISOO:**  Fine, fine. Quick question though.

 **JIN:**   _(sighs)_  What is it?

 **JISOO:**  Who was that boy that was pulling Jungkook back? The one with the silver hair. He's cute.

 **JIN:**  I think his name was Taehyung? I'm not sure, wasn't paying attention to him. He was irrelevant.

 **JISOO:**   _(sighs_ ) He's so handsome, it's a shame that he hangs with Bangtan.

 **JIN:**   _(looks up)_  What?

 **JISOO:**  Bangtan?

 **JIN:**  The hell is a Bangtan?

 **JISOO:**  It's what these six boys that go to our school call themselves. The Bangtan Boys.

 **JIN:**  That's fucking obsured.

 **JISOO:**  They have their own school club too.

 **JIN:**  I have to laugh.

 **JISOO:**  Well, sorry to bother you. I'll be going now.  _(walks away)_

 **JIN:**   _(chuckles)_  Bangtan Boys. Ridiculous.

**BANGTAN SCHOOL CLUB ROOM, 12:00 P.M.**

**JUNGKOOK:**   _(leaning against the window)_  You should have let me punch the pretty out of his face but whatever

 **TAEHYUNG:**  And let you get suspended on the first day? You said you'd do better Kookie

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(pouts)_  Don't call me that.

 **HOSEOK:**   _(sitting on the table, picking at his shoe)_  He said he was gonna sue you?  _(laughs)_

 **JUNGKOOK:**  Right? Fuckin' idiot.

 **YOONGI:**   _(sitting in a chair)_  As much as I'd love to entertain the rest of this narrative, we have bigger things to worry about.

 **TAEHYUNG:**  Like?

 **JIMIN:**  Did you seem to forget that the principal is shutting our club down if we don't find more members?

 **JUNGKOOK:**  Apparently.

 **JIMIN:**  You know, the time during the summer that we spent fooling around could have been spent on finding more people.

 **TAEHYUNG:**  Nah, don't try to pin this on us.

 **JUNGKOOK:**  You were fooling around right along with us,  _Jiminie._

 **NAMJOON:**   _(walks in)_  Nobody decided to inform me that we were having a club meeting?  _(places his bag on the table)._

 **YOONGI:**   _(checks phone)_  I thought I texted you.

 **TAEHYUNG:**  His phone-

 **YOONGI:**  His phone broke. I forgot.

 **JIMIN:**  So?

 **JUNGKOOK:**  So?

 **NAMJOON:**  How long we got?

 **JIMIN:**  3 months.

 **JUNGKOOK:**  More than enough time to get members, so what's the big deal?

 **JIMIN:**  EVERYBODY FINDS US ANNOYING, JUNGKOOK.

_(bell rings)_

**TAEHYUNG:**  If you don't look at the time! Time to go.

_(taehyung grabs jungkook's wrist, pulling him towards the exit of the club room)_

**JUNGKOOK:**  Where are we going?

 **TAEHYUNG:**  We have the same class together, remember?

 **HOSEOK:** _(hops off of the table, exiting the club room)_  See you guys later.

 

**LUNCH ROOM, 1:35 P.M.**

 

_(jisoo, rosé, lisa, and jennie are sitting at the round lunch table)_

**LISA:**  His name is Taehyung? Cute name for a cute boy.

 **ROSÉ:**   _(sighs)_  He had so much potential.

 **JENNIE:**  And ended up wasting it on Bangtan. Tragic.

 **JISOO:**  That is not the point of this discussion.

 **JENNIE:**  Right. What were you complaining about again?  _(eats a fry)_

 **JISOO:**  Clearly no one cares so nevermind.

 **ROSÉ:**   _(pouts)_  Jiiiiii.

 **LISA:**  We care. What did you wanna talk about?

 **JISOO:**  Jin still hasn't fallen in love with me!

_(jennie, rosé, and lisa sigh in unison)_

**JISOO:**  What? What did I say?

 **JENNIE:**  Please give up on that boy. He's a dick.

 **ROSÉ:**  And too ignorant. We're good looking and popular too but you don't see us going around being asses to everyone.

 **JISOO:**  Well, he's not mean to me.  _(pouts, slouching into the chair)._

 **LISA:**  Girl he called you nosy.

 **JENNIE:**  And he makes it very obvious that your presence bothers him.

 **ROSÉ:**  You deserve so much better.

 **JISOO:**  You guys don't know Jin like I do.

 **LISA:**  (rolls eyes) Sure.

 

**WEST WING HALLWAY, 2:12 P.M.**

 

_(jin is walking down the hallway, looking through his phone)_

_(jimin is also walking down the hallway. jin isn't looking where he's going. they bump into each other, causing Jin to drop his phone)_

**JIN:**   _(bending down to retrieve his phone)_  Is everyone just blind today or have you all just chosen not to see?

 **JIMIN:**   _(scratches the back of his head)_  Sorry, but uh, you were the one on your phone not paying attention.

 **JIN:**  Do you know how much this phone costs? A lot. Do you think you could afford the repairs had it cracked? Probably not.

 **JIMIN:**  That's nice and all but can you save the complaining for someone who cares? I have things to do.

_(jin stands up, looking jimin in the eyes)_

**JIN:**  Oh? Like what?

 **JIMIN:**  Actually...  _(grabs Jin's hand)_. Come with me.

 **JIN:**  Hey! What are you doing?

 

**BANGTAN SCHOOL CLUB ROOM, 2:17 P.M.**

 

 **NAMJOON:** Where's Jimin?

 **YOONGI:** Like we know where he went.

 **JUNGKOOK:**  How are you gonna show up late to your own meeting?

 **HOSEOK:**   _(sing song voice)_  Just Jimin things!

_(namjoon throws a paper ball at hoseok)_

_(jimin busts into the room, jin still in hand)_

**JIMIN:** Lookie, lookie. I found a new member.

 **JIN:**  A new  _what_?

✰✩✰

**forgot when i finished writing this lol**


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the first 10 chapters are chapters i wung (not a word) it on but yeet i guess

**MONDAY: SEPTEMBER 4TH**

 

 

**BANGTAN SCHOOL CLUB ROOM, 2:19 P.M.**

**JIN:** A new  _what?_

 **JUNGKOOK:** _(points)_  Him!

 **YOONGI:**  Whom?

 **JUNGKOOK** :  _(voice raised)_  Him! That fucking dick from this morning!

 **JIN:**   _(rolls eyes)_  Don't flatter yourself, I wasn't expecting to see your ridiculous face again either.

 **NAMJOON:**   _(sitting in a chair)_  Well, to be fair, you both go to the same school and-

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(cutting namjoon off)_  None of you touch me, I'm about to kick his ass.  _(walks towards jin)._

 **JIMIN** ** _:_** _(blocks jungkook)_  Now now. That's not how we treat new club members.  _(smiling)._

 **JUNGKOOK:**  Over my dead body will I let that...that  _jackass_ be apart of our club!

 **JIN:**   _(smirks)_  My, you do have a foul vocabulary. Do you talk to your mother with that mouth?

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(now angry)_  Jimin. Move.

 **HOSEOK:**   _(sitting on the table, putting his hands in the air)_ _How_ about we all take a seat and just breathe for a sec.

 **TAEHYUNG:**   _(sitting against the window)_  Jimin you can't just drag a random person walking around school to our club room and deem them a new member. Especially when that person is practically Jungkook's nemises.

 **JIMIN:**   _(still holding back jungkook)_  We needed more members. I found one. I'm trying, you know.

 **YOONGI:**   _(walks over, pulling jungkook back)_ We appreciate your efforts but we meant find people who are willing and  _interested_  in being in the club.

 **NAMJOON:** That part should have been obvious enough.

 **JIMIN:**   _(snaps)_  Fuck off. Hmph.

 **JIN:** _(straightening tie, patting down pants)_  You don't need to worry about doing a majority vote on if I should join or not because I am most definitely  _not_ interested.

 **HOSEOK:**   _(cocks eyebrow)_  Oh really? And why is that?

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(crosses arms)_  So Kim Seok-jin thinks he's too high, mighty, and rich to be apart of our club huh?

 **JIN:**   _(scoffs)_  I never said that, you dunce. I'm just saying that I have better things to do then stay after school with 6 boys doing god knows what because this obviously isn't just some regular school club and you all seem like a bunch of idiots that I'd rather not be seen with.

 **JUNGKOOK:**  So what I just said basically.

 **YOONGI:**   _(chuckles)_  I'm gonna act like I didn't hear that.

 **NAMJOON:**  Just admit it, Mr. Arrogant. You can't get down like a Bangtan boy.

 **JIN:** I don't want to be a Bangtan boy, Sir. Namjoon. That's the whole point.

 **TAEHYUNG:**   _(blurts out)_  Join our club and we'll let you be the leader.

_(jungkook, yoongi, jimin, namjoon, hoseok, and jin "huh" in unison)_

**JIMIN:**  Have you gone mad?

 **JUNGKOOK:**  Is it crack? Is it crack that you smoke?

 **JIN:** _(now interested)_  Really?

 **HOSEOK:**   _(cocks his head sideways, confused)_  Now wait a second.

 **JIN:**  I've always wanted to be in charge, and you are a very popular group.

 **NAMJOON:**  We're known for being annoying though.

 **JIN:**  But you're still popular nonetheless. I could use that to my advantage.

 **YOONGI:**   _(shakes head)_  No way. Not happening.

 **JIMIN:**   _(annoyed)_ I regret this.

 **TAEHYUNG:**   _(to jin)_  So. Are you in?

_(jimin, yoongi, namjoon, hoseok, and jungkook give taehyung dirty looks)_

**JIN:**   _(walking towards the exit)_  Fine, if you insist. Club meeting on Wednesday.

 **NAMJOON:**  Actually, club meetings are on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 **JIN:**  Oh? Too bad. Have a nice day everyone!  _(slams door shut)_

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(to the group)_  Nobody hold me back, I'm about to  _kill_ Taehyung.

**BANGTAN CLUB ROOM, 5:30 P.M. (AFTER SCHOOL)**

_(the 6 boys are sitting at the table)_

**NAMJOON:**  So.

 **TAEHYUNG:**  Soooo?

 **JUNGKOOK:**  Mind explaining why the hell you did that?

 **TAEHYUNG:**   _(sighs)_  Here we go.

 **YOONGI:**  I get that we need more members but nobody told you to go off and suggest that he be in charge.

 **JIMIN:**   _(head in his hands)_  If only I had left him in the hallway.

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(to jimin)_  Yeah, this is your fault too.

 **HOSEOK:**  What if he changes the club name to some lame shit like "Jin's Companions".  _(laughs)_.

 **NAMJOON:**  I bet 10 dollars on "Jin's Musketeers".

 **YOONGI:**   _(deadpans)_  Seriously?

 **HOSEOK:**   _(slouches in chair)_  Sorry.

 **TAEHYUNG:**  Look. Let's face it. The entire school thinks we're annoying and troublesome and contribute absolutely nothing to society so finding new members were a slim to no chance as is.

_(everyone nods in agreement)_

**JUNGKOOK:**  Still don't see how that has anything to do with Jin. How is he gonna help us?

 **TAEHYUNG:**  He's popular, right? And the entire school loves him. Imagine how much attention he'd bring to our club.

 **HOSEOK:**  I get it. More people would wanna join if they knew he was apart of it.

 **TAEHYUNG:**  And we couldn't just appoint him as some regular member. He's too self centered for that. So we only had one other option.

 **JIMIN:**  To be fairly honest, I'd rather have this club demolished then to have Jin boss me around.

 **YOONGI:**   _(crosses arms)_  I second that.

 **TAEHYUNG:**  Come on. This club means a lot to me, you know? It's how I met you guys. I'd hope it mean just as much to you too.

 **NAMJOON:**   _(sighs)_  You're right.

 **HOSEOK:**  We'll just have to see what happens on Wednesday I guess.

 **JUNGKOOK:**   _(throwing his head back)_  Agh. What are we gonna do?

 **THE**   **NEXT DAY (TUESDAY):**   **SCHOOL HALLWAY A, JIN'S LOCKER**

_(jin is putting books in his locker, rearranging some things)_

_(jisoo walks up to jin, leaving a centimeter of distance between them)_

**JISOO:** Seok-jinnieeeee

 **JIN:**   _(glances at jisoo, turns attention back to locker)_  Jisoo.

 **JISOO:**  What's with this response?

 **JIN:**  What are you talking about?

 **JISOO:**  You're acting like me being here is bothering you.

 **JIN:**  Maybe because it is?

_(jisoo gasps, leaning against the locker next to jin's)_

**JISOO:**  Wow. Real nice, Jin.

 **JIN:**   _(sighs, turning to jisoo)_  I'm sorry, okay? I think you're a sweet girl and I mean it but you give me little to no space almost everyday.

 **JISOO:**   _(pouts)_  I guess you're right about that.

 **JIN:**  Was there something you needed?

 **JISOO:**  Confirmation. About a rumor.

 **JIN:**   _(sighs in annoyance, turning back to locker)_  Great.

 **JISOO:**   _(now intrigued)_  Oh? So you've heard about it?

 **JIN:**  Knowing this school it's probably something stupid.

 **JISOO:**  People are saying that they saw you going into Bangtan's club room yesterday.

 **JIN:**  Ah. So that's it.

 **JISOO:**   _(surprised)_  It's true?

 **JIN:**  I was actually dragged to Bangtan's club room, I didn't go willingly. But yeah, it's true.

 **JISOO:**  You're  _cool_  with the Bangtan boys?

 **JIN:**  Even if I was, why are you so shocked?

 **JISOO:**  I didn't think I'd ever see someone like you acquaint themselves with people like Bangtan.

 **JIN:**  Okay?

 **JISOO:**  So, why were you in the club room? What did they want?

 **JIN:**   _(sighs, closing locker. faces jisoo)_  I'm not about to stand here and play 21 questions with you, Jisoo.

 **JISOO:**  If you don't tell me I'm sure there'll be rumors in no time about why you were in there and one of them is bound to be true. So not just me will be the one to find out.

 **JIN:**   _(laughs)_  So? Let the rumors spread. See if I care.

_(jin closes his locker and walks away in the opposite direction that jisoo is facing)_

**JISOO:**  Where are you going!?

 **JISOO:**   _(huffs)_  Damn you, Kim Seok-jin.

✰✩✰

 

✅ _written on september 13th; 11:15 a.m._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check the book out on my wattpad (it's a lot better on there cause there's pictures and stuff) @kruutinari. follow me on twitter too @ritsuapologist. self promotion!!


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yall dont know how happy i get when people leave nice comments on my work

 

**WEDNESDAY: SEPTEMBER 6TH**

  
**J** in went home late that night. He had stayed after school to finish some overdue work. That would be his excuse for coming home late almost everyday. The days where he didn't were the days when his father worked late.

He took the train home. Resting his back against his favorite spot next to the doors. He admired the scenery that stood in front of him from outside the window that was across. He enjoyed late night train rides. Not many people. Small chatter is nothing more than soothing white noise to him.

The way the train moved at a simple pace. The clunking of the wheels against the tracks. Jin could listen to this for hours. It was the only peace in his life. Soon the train had made a stop. This is where he had to get off. It was a little ways walk to his apartment complex but he was in no rush to make it home any faster. It was a little chilly, the street and building lights shone bright in the night sky.

A lot of people had retired for the night so the streets weren't as crowded. Peace. Jin had finally made it to his apartment complex, pushing open the big glass doors that seperated him from the inside.

"Oh, hello Jin" the lady at the front desk cooed.

Jin nodded in response, heading to the elevator. He got on and pressed the highest number. He lived on the top floor. Laying against the cool metal that coated the elevator, he closed his eyes. Indulging in the blissful silence. When the elevator had reached his floor he could already hear the screaming. They were arguing again. He sighed, exiting the elevator that had reached his floor and entered into his family's large apartment.

There were liquor bottles of all kinds laying around. The source of the screaming and arguing came from the kitchen. Jin decided that he'd avoid that area. He didn't need to eat tonight. Trying not to draw attention to himself he quietly made his way up the stairs. He could hear glass shatter as he reached the top.

Jin entered his room, closing the door behind him and taking off his shoes. He flopped onto the bed, covering himself with his sheets. He covered his ears with the pillows. Trying so hard to drown out the sounds of screaming and shattering. Only to be left with nothing but white noise.

✪

 Jin had woken up early the next morning. He wanted to avoid his parents for the most part but he also decided that he'd take the train to school so he wanted to be early.

Jin changed into his uniform, lacing his shoes on. After doing all of the necessities that needed to be done in the morning, he quietly made his way to the staircase but not before checking his parents' room. His dad had already left for work and his mother was still asleep. He leaned in, kissing her cheek. "Love you" he whispered before exiting the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

He made his way down the staircase, examing his surroundings. Beer bottles were still everywhere, vases and other miscellaneous things were broken or tossed somewhere. He sighed. He walked towards the elevator that had reached his apartment and got on, pressing the number 1 button. On to school he went.

✪

 

**SEOUL HIGH SCHOOL, 1:30 P.M.; LISA'S LOCKER**

_(jennie is leaning against her locker, arms folded)_

**JISOO:** _(standing in front of jennie)_ Are you listening to me?

 **JENNIE:** Yes, Ji.

 **JISOO:** Jin is definitely hiding something from me.

 **JENNIE:** Like?

 **JISOO:** He confirmed the rumor, first off.

 **JENNIE:** _(surprised)_ He hangs with Bangtan?

 **JISOO:** Now that I don't know but he did talk to them about _something._ He just won't tell meeeee.

 **JENNIE:** So? That's none of your business anyways.

 **JISOO:** I know but....I just want him to open up and at least talk to me more but he _won't_.

 **JENNIE:** _(turns to jisoo)_ Maybe because you keep forcing yourself onto him romantically? Have you tried approaching him as a friend first?

 **JISOO:** _(huffs)_ No.

 **JENNIE:** _(grabs jisoo by her shoulders)_ Then maybe you should? _(chuckles)_ And if he doesn't try to make any effort then forget him, okay? You deserve better anyways.

 **JISOO:** _(smiles)_ I suppose. I feel like an idiot.

 **JENNIE:** _(pinches jisoo's cheeks playfully)_ You're not an idiot. Your ignorance is adorable.

 **JISOO:** _(blushes, swatting lisa's hands away)_ Stoooop.

 **ROSÉ:** _(tapping finger on locker)_ Class started _(looks at watch)_ 10 minutes ago.

 **LISA:** Thank you, our personal time keeper.

**SEOUL HIGH SCHOOL LUNCH ROOM, 1:45 P.M.**

_(jin and mark are sitting at the lunch table across from each other)_

**MARK:** _(is eating)_ So you're telling me _(finishes swallowing)_ that you're a leader of a group that the entire school hates? Isn't that, like, _bad_?

 **JIN:** Well, if I was being apart of it just be apart of it, then yes. But this is working in my favor.

 **MARK:** _(confused)_ How?

 **JIN:** They're a well known group. It just adds on to my popularity. _(bites into his burger)_

 **MARK:** _(chuckles)_ But you're already popular.

 **JIN:** Never too much attention.

 **MARK:** You wanna know what I think? You're doing this because you want more friends. Yeah, you're popular. But none of these people actually care enough to take the time to get to know you.

 **JIN:** _(sighs)_ Except you.

 **MARK:** Instead of taking over their club why not just be their friend?

 **JIN:** We wouldn't get along. At all. Plus, the youngest hates me and the feeling is mutual. 

 **MARK:** Are you talking about Jungkook?

 **JIN:** Sure, whatever his name is.

 **MARK:** By the way, how's your parents?

 **JIN:** Do you really wanna know?

 **MARK:** _(looks down)_ Guess not.

 **JIN:** I feel like it's just gotten worse.

 **MARK:** Still arguing every night?

 **JIN:** They've started throwing shit now.

 **MARK:** Hey, you can always stay a-

 **JIN:** No. I'm not trying to burden you with any of this crap.

 **MARK:** _(concerned)_ Jin.

 **JIN:** _(looks at mark, pleading)_ Please. Let me do this alone.

 **MARK:**   _(sighs)_ Fine. But if you get tired of doing this by yourself just tell me.

 **JIN:** _(smiles)_ What would I do without you.

**BANGTAN CLUB ROOM, AFTER SCHOOL: 4:42 P.M.**

_(jungkook is sitting at the table with his arms crossed. hoseok is sitting on the table. namjoon and jimin are leaned against the window. yoongi and taehyung are also sitting at the table)_

**JUNGOOK:** He's late.

 **JIMIN:** No shit, Jungkook.

 **HOSEOK:** Let's hope he doesn't show up so we can go home.

 **YOONGI:** Let's hope we never have to see him again.

 **NAMJOON:** Cut it out you two.

 **JIMIN:** Do we really need this club? Like seriously.

 **TAEHYUNG:** So I'm the only one that still cares, huh?

 **JUNGKOOK:** _(gets up)_ Taehyung I swear to god.

 **NAMJOON:** _(slams fist against window)_ I said cut it out.

 **JUNGKOOK:** _(now annoyed)_ Calm down, you might break the damn window. _(sits down)_

 **HOSEOK:** _(wines)_ I'm so hungryyyyy.

_(jin opens the door, walking in and placing his bag on the round table in the middle of the room where jungkook, yoongi, and hoseok are sitting)_

**JIN:** _(loosening his tie)_ Today has been a long day.

 **JUNGKOOK:** Where the hell have you been?

 **JIN:** Am I late or something?

 **YOONGI:** 15 minutes late. How are you gonna be late to your own meeting? On a day when we don't even _have_  meetings usually? 

 **JIN:** Well I'm here now aren't I?

 **NAMJOON:** _(starting to lose patience)_ We don't wanna sit here and wait for you while you do whatever. We'd like to go home.

 **JIN:** Hey, hey. I get it. But I'm here. So everyone gather around.

_(namjoon and jimin sit at the table)_

**JIN:** Well. I guess we can start with the _name._ Bangtan? Yeah, that's not gonna work.

 **TAEHYUNG:** _(sighs)_ Here we go.

 **YOONGI:** Forget it. We're not changing the name.

 **JIN:** I was gonna suggest "Jin's Companions" but I wouldn't even consider any of you as acquaintances so that won't work.

 **JUNGKOOK:** _(scoffs)_ Are you serious? Can you not be a dick for 5 minutes?

 **HOSEOK:** _(patting jungkook's shoulder)_ Hey, chill.

 **JIN:** How abouttttt.."Jin's Musketeers"? I like the sound of that.

 **NAMJOON:** _(jumps up)_ I called it! I fucking called it, somebody better pay up.

_(hoseok sighs, reaching into his pocket and handing namjoon a 10 dollar bill)_

**NAMJOON:** _(smiling, sits back in chair)_ Continue.

 **YOONGI:** I don't know why we're still on this, I already said we're not changing it.

 **JIN:** Last time I checked I was the leader? Not you, uh, what's your name? Yoongee?

 **YOONGI:** _(bitter)_ Yoongi.

 **JIMIN:** If we're actually gonna change the name then I'm leaving. None of this is worth anything. _(crosses arms)_

 **YOONGI:** We're not changing it! End of story.

 **JIN:** _(hands on hips)_ Actually-

 **YOONGI:** _(to jin, glaring)_ We're. Not. Changing. It.

 **JIN:** _(gulps)_ Alright then. We won't change it.

 **TAEHYUNG:** _(impatient)_ Cool, great. Can we move on?

 **JUNGKOOK:** I don't know why you're in such a rush, you're the one who put us in this position in the first place.

 **TAEHYUNG:** Please, Kookie. Let it go.

 **HOSEOK:** _(punches jungkook in the arm lightly)_ Right, _Kookie_.

 **JIN:** Anyways. I think we should have a fundraiser.

_(everyone looks at him in confusion)_

**HOSEOK:** For what?

 **JIMIN:** _(laughs)_ No one's gonna participate, that would never work.

 **JIN:** This club room? Is a mess. These chairs and this table are old, the wallpaper is falling off, and there's a damn hole in the glass window that has yet to be fixed properly.

 **NAMJOON:** _(shrugs)_ I thought I cardboarded it up pretty well but whatever.

 **JUNGKOOK:** I guess you have a point. We've never had enough money to get what we need and to fix things.

 **TAEHYUNG:** _(surprised)_ Jungkook agreeing with _Jin?_ The simulation is glitching.

 **JIN:** Don't worry about the planning of the fundraiser, just leave it to me.

 **JIMIN:** We were gonna leave it to you anyways.

 **YOONGI:** What are you planning?

 **JIN:** _(smiles)_ Don't worry about it.

✰✩✰

 

✅ _written september 1st, finished september 18th; 12:03 p.m._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> daily reminder to check the story out on wattpad (@kruutinari) it's ten times better on there and that's where i update first. also, i wrote this on jungkook's birthday lol i love him


	4. four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was namjoon's birthday present

 

**TUESDAY: SEPTEMBER 12TH**

 

**J** unkgook woke up bitter. He didn't enjoy school and the only thing he looked forward to was seeing his friends and hanging out with them after school in their club room. But things were changing. He didn't like something that he was so accustomed to changing.

  
His club might get shut down, and to make things worse, his enemy was now in charge of it. Cursing to himself, Jungkook arose from his bed, throwing his cover to the side. Walking across the room, he stood in front of his mirror, adjusting his hair before heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

He fixed his uniform to his liking, loosely adjusting his tie. He heard a knock at the door.

"Come in".

The person on the other side opened it, leaving enough space to put his head in.

"Tell mom I'll be home late again".

"Where are you gonna be?" Jungkook asked. He looked at his younger brother with a worried expression.

"Out". The younger didn't leave room for his older brother to respond, having already closed the door.

Jungkook sighed. He worried for his brother. He'd be out late most nights and sometimes he'd come home with small cuts or other injuries. He wanted to tell his mom about it, and he wanted to ask his younger brother what was up but he never did. He feared that the younger would resent him for prying into his business.

So Jungkook left it alone. He had checked on his mother before leaving to see if she was still asleep or not. She had already left for work. He grabbed an orange juice from the fridge and then grabbed the house keys off of the counter. He locked up, got on his bike, and made his way to school.

✪

  
**SEOUL HIGH SCHOOL ASSEMBLY HALL, 9:30 A.M.**

_(hoseok, taehyung, yoongi, namjoon, and jimin are sitting side by side in a row of chairs in the back of the assembly hall, half listening)_

**HOSEOK:** _(to namjoon)_ I'm telling you we should've skipped.

 **YOONGI:** _(arms crossed)_ I don't feel like being in the office again because we got caught skipping.

 **JIMIN:** You didn't have to come with me, you know.

 **NAMJOON:** Wait, why was Jimin in the office again?

 **YOONGI:** He broke a damn guitar.

_(hoseok laughs)_

**TAEHYUNG:** It's only the second week of school.

_(two girls sitting in front of the group shush them, then turn back around)_

**NAMJOON:** _(tapping yoongi's shoulder)_ Hey hey. Isn't that Jin? (pointing to the front of the hall)

_(everyone is facing in the direction in which namjoon is pointing)_

**YOONGI:** Is he on the stage?

 **HOSEOK:** Obviously.

 **TAEHYUNG:** What's he doing up there?

_(everyone shrugs their shoulders)_

**PRINCIPAL BANG P.D.:** Now, I know that this assembly has been going on for quite some time and everyone would like to get back to class.

_(everyone groans)_

**PRINCIPAL BANG P.D.:** We have one last student that would like to make an announcement before we go. Please give a warm welcome to Kim Seok-jin.

_(the students perk up. everyone is clapping and cat calling. girls are cheering for him)_

_(jin walks up to the podium, waving to the groups of girls cheering for him. he taps the mic)_

**YOONGI:** _(groans)_ Just kill me now.

 **JIN:** I won't take up anymore of your time but does anyone know of the after school club Bangtan?

_(the boys are now interested)_

**NAMJOON:** What's he doing?

 **JIMIN:** I don't fuckin know.

_(jungkook walks in, taking a seat next to jimin)_

**JUNGKOOK:** Sorry, I'm late. What's happening?

 **JIMIN:** Jin's on stage talking about us.

 **JUNGKOOK:** _(in disbelief)_ What?

 **JIN:** _(to the crowd)_ Well, I am now the leader of that club.

( _everyone gasps)_ _*** lol**_

 **JISOO:** _(sitting next to jennie)_ I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.

 **LISA:** Calm down, will you?

 **JIN:** As the leader, I am here to inform the school that our club room is in dier need of new club room equipment so we'll be having a fundraiser.

 **HOSEOK:** I thought we already made this clear that no one is gonna wanna support this stupid fundraiser idea.

 **NAMJOOM:** I'm curious as to where this is heading.

 **JIN:** Come by the club room any time during today with 5 dollars and I'll let you take 5 pictures with me.

_(the group of boys say 'what' in unison)_

_(girls cheer with glee)_

**JUNGKOOK:** What the fuck?

 **JIN:** _(smiles handsomely)_ I'd hope to see you all come together to support Bangtan.

_(jin steps back from the podium. bang p.d. comes up, dismissing all of the students)_

**LISA:** This man is really full of himself.

 **JENNIE:** Are these girls really that desperate?

 **JISOO:** _(waving to get jennie and lisa's attention)_ Anybody got 5 dollars?

_(jennie and lisa deadpan)_

**SEOUL HIGH SCHOOL WEST WING HALLWAY, 12:21 P.M.**

_(hoseok and yoongi are walking down the hallway)_

**HOSEOK:** You think it'll work?

 **YOONGI:** What will?

 **HOSEOK:** Jin's fundraiser.

 **YOONGI:** He's popular. Everyone at the assembly seemed to _love_ the idea so it might.

 **HOSEOK:** I don't get it though.

 **YOONGI:** _(pats hoseok's shoulder)_ Hey, what's on your mind?

_(they stop walking)_

**HOSEOK:** _(turning to yoongi)_ Why is he helping us? Why is he doing actual leader things for us?

 **YOONGI:** Would you rather him not do any of this leader shit?

 **HOSEOK:** For someone who sees us as people that are beneath him I feel like there's an ulterior motive to his efforts.

_(yoongi starts walking, hoseok following behind)_

**YOONGI:** I wouldn't think too much of it. As long as he isn't doing anything absured then I wouldn't worry about it.

 **HOSEOK:** _(shrugs)_ I guess.

_(hoseok and yoongi make it to the club room, only to be greeted with a long line of students traveling from the entrance of the club room to the hallway)_

**YOONGI:** Are all of these people here for _Jin?_

_(jungkook, jimin, taehyung, and namjoon walk up to join the two after coming from outside where they were playing soccer)_

**JUNGKOOK:** What the hell is this?

✰✩✰

  
✅ _written september 11th, finished september 18th; 9:35 a.m._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last update for a bit. maybe


	5. five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i need to take breaks but i keep writing and i can't help but update

 

**TUESDAY: SEPTEMBER 12TH**

 

 

"Bangtan Club: Jinraiser?" Taehyung reads out loud in a questionable voice. "That's" Jimin clears his throat. "Different."

 

 

"Well it's Jin we're talking about here." Yoongi responds. Jungkook interrupts their conversation, breaking through the three boys. He walks towards the long line of students, cutting in between them to get into the club room. The other five boys follow. Sounds of protest can be heard from the line as the boys cut through them, following behind Jungkook.

  
Jin is standing next to a girl, his arms wrapped around her. They're in the position to take a selfie, Jin smiling and the girl blushing. Jungkook walks up to him, tossing his soccer ball to the side. "What's with the long line outside our club room?" he asks, poking at Jin's shoulder. Jin didn't even bother to glance at him, still smiling at the camera as he answered "Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"Are these people here to take _pictures_ with you?" The girl hugs Jin tightly and then hands him five dollars. "We appreciate your donation" Jin says with a flashy smile. She smiles in return, hugging him one last time before walking away. Jin turns his attention to Jungkook, tucking the money into his blazer pocket. "I'm trying to help this club out so I'd appreciate it if you'd not disrupt the process." Jungkook laughs.

"I can't believe this." Jin puts his hand on his hips, looking at Jungkook, confused. "What's so funny? I don't remember telling a joke."

"This school is so stupid and whipped for you like you're some type of celebrity" he shakes his head. "It's funny, really." Jin cocks his eyebrow.

"Are you _jealous?_ " Jungkook throws his head back in laughter. Neither are paying mind to the now annoyed crowd standing outside of the club room or to the other five boys watching them.

"Me? Jealous of you? You're just full of jokes today, _Seok-jin_ _."_

"Then what's the issue? Why do you hate me so much, _Jungkookie?_ "

Jungkook couldn't understand it but he felt flustered when the older used his nickname. Jin stepped closer.

"Are you gonna answer me or are you gonna continue to stand there like an idiot?" Jin and Jungkook were the same height but the older felt like he was being towered over by the younger. He was way more built and tough looking than him. He didn't know what it was exactly, but he felt turned on. Just a little bit.

 

Taehyung cuts in. "Can you two argue later?" he points to the now bigger than before crowd. "The people are waiting."

 

 

✪

 

 Jennie and Lisa were sitting at their usual lunch table. They didn't bother to talk their best friend out of going to the Bangtan club room to take her unnecessary picture with Jin. They didn't understand why Jisoo was so obsessed.

  
Supposedly the two had gone through something in their childhood and she had been whipped for Jin since then but she never elaborated further than that. Jennie sighed, flipping her Calculus book to the next page to find the next problem that she was assigned to do. "Did you do number four?" she asked Lisa. Lisa flipped the page in her notebook, checking to see if she had done it.

"Nope". Jennie groans, closing her Calculus book and throwing her pencil back into her bag in defeat.

"I'm ready to fucking graduate". Lisa chuckles, closing her notebook. "Did you apply for any scholarships yet?". Jennie slouched into her chair, throwing her head back, staring at the ceiling. She began to lose her train of thought, gazing into the lights above. Lisa taps her shoulder, snapping Jennie out of her gaze and back into reality.

"Huh?"  
"Have you applied for anything yet?"

Jennie scratches her head, sitting back in an upright position. "I, uh, haven't. At, least I don't think I've had the time to." Lisa touches her arm, looking into Jennie's eyes with concern. "Are you okay?" Jennie looked at Lisa confusingly. 

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Jennie laughs, pulling her arm back and off of the table.

"You're scaring me, Lisa."

"You've been out of it for days now. Is there something going on?"

"Why are you asking me twenty-one questions all of a sudden?"

Jennie was defensive now. She didn't get why Lisa was prying so much. More than usual. Did she know? Was she aware of where Jennie's feelings lied? Was she judging her? That was what Jennie was afraid of. People judging her.

She didn't want anyone to know. Not even her best friends. Jennie was deep in thought before being interrupted by an approaching Rosé. Rosé plopped her books onto the table, slouching into the empty chair next to Jennie. Lisa's attention was now off of Jennie. Jennie sighed quietly in relief. "Where have you been?" Lisa asked Rosé.

"Ms. Kim told me to stay back so she could bitch about a _paragraph_ that I forgot to indent." Lisa chuckles, putting the rest of her things in her bag before zipping it up. "I've had it up to here" Rosé lifts her arm at an exaggerated level to add emphasis to her statement " _here_ with high school. So glad we're seniors." Jennie had long since dozed off, paying no attention to the current conversation.

Rosé taps her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

_Why is everyone asking me that today?_

Jennie stuffs the rest of her things in her bag before rising from her seat to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" Lisa asks, throwing a sandwich wrapper at her. Jennie pays no mind at Lisa's means of trying to get her attention.

Jisoo approaches them, a gleeful smile on her face. Jennie doesn't bother to greet her, looking down at the ground she walks away from her friends, bumping into Jisoo. "Jennie?" Jisoo tries to grab for her arm, worried about her friend. Jennie pulls away without a word and heads to her next class. 

Jisoo walks up to the table where Lisa and Rosé are sitting, a look of confusion spread across her face. "What's wrong with her?"

Both Lisa and Rosé shrug. "Maybe she's having a bad day?" Rosé responds, sitting back, popping some chips into her mouth that she had opened earlier.

"She's been having a bad for like a week now."

"Look" Lisa rises from her chair, preparing to leave. "I don't know. We've been trying to talk to her but she doesn't wanna open up right now. Let's just wait until she's ready, yeah?" Jisoo pouts. "I guess." Rosé gets up from her chair, following behind Lisa, and the three girls head to their next class.

***

 

**2 YEARS AGO**

 

 

Jennie and Jisoo are sitting on Jennie's bed, going over some of Jennie's songs. Jennie hands Jisoo a newly written rap. "You just get better and better" Jisoo praises. Jennie smiles. "Probably wouldn't have gotten any better if it weren't for you." Jisoo smiles. Jisoo places the rap on the bed, leaning back so that her back's against the wall.

 

 

"So this is what you wanna do huh?"

 

 

"Rap? Yeah. I wanna be really dedicated to my craft."

 

 

Jisoo looks at Jennie with a look of admiration. She can't help but be proud of how far Jennie's come.

 

 

"I'm proud."

 

 

"Hm?"

 

 

"I'm proud of you. And I'll support you wherever this craft may lead you to."

 

 

Jennie blushes. She's always been praised by her parents and friends for her achievements and she's appreciated all of it but she feels so different when it's Jisoo. It makes her wanna go far and beyond what is expected of her. She wants to be the one to keep that smile on Jisoo's face. Did she like her? Yes. As more than a friend? Definitely.

 

 

But could she tell Jisoo? No. Her parents had no tolerance for dating and that included girls too. She also didn't wanna scare Jisoo away and possibly ruin their friendship. So this was a strong feeling that she had to keep to herself. And she hated it.

 

 

"I gotta get home now. Are you good here?" asks Jisoo.

 

 

"Oh, uh, yeah. Thanks for coming."

 

 

Jisoo collects her things, hugging Jennie before heading to the bedroom door. "I'll see myself out. See you tomorrow?"

 

 

Jennie smiles warmly. "Yeah."

 

 

Jisoo returns the smile, leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

 

 

_It pains me that I can't love you._

 

 

✰✩✰

 

 

**yall need to start reading on wattpad, there's music!! jk do as you please**

  
✅ _written september 18th; 10:00 a.m._


	6. five point zero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween, suckers

****** **THIS IS NOT CHAPTER 6****

 

** HALLOWEEN DAY **

  
**T** he band of seven boys stayed late after school, deciding to spend Halloween together in their club room. Jin and Jungkook had went out together and bought snacks. It became difficult at times being that there was an unspoken tension between them. Unexplainable.

Taehyung and Jimin lit candles, placing them in different places in the room since they wouldn't need the lights tonight.

Yoongi spent the entirety of the preparations napping, of course. And Namjoon and Hoseok still had school work to finish and took the time of peace and quiet they had to do what needed to be done.

After everything had been set up, the clock already struck 10:30 p.m.

The boys sat on the floor in a circle which was covered with a sort of quilt. A lit candle sat in the middle, casting shadows onto the walls and dimmly lighting their faces.

"Nice costume" Jungkook chuckles lightly.

He was referring to Yoongi, who had decided to dress up as a cat, ironically. He had little fangs in his mouth which overlaped his bottom lip, and he had a black choker with a silver tag that read "Suga". He wore all black. Black ripped jeans, a plain black T-shirt and a black bomber jacket.

Yoongi yawned in response, rubbing his eyes. "And what the fuck are you supposed to be?"

Jungkook snorts, but smiles. "I'm a pumpkin."

Namjoon was a koala, Taehyung and Jin were vampires. Jimin decided to not dress up and Hoseok was Kermit.

"Yoongi looks decent, why is no one talking about Hobi's costume?" asks Taehyung.

"Hey!" Hoseok says defensively. "Leave me and my Kermit costume out of this."

Jin rises from his spot, walking over to the table to retrieve a pumpkin bucket of candy. He turns towards the group. "Who wants candy?"

The six boys line up in a single filed line like children, holding out their hands to receive candy. Jin goes down the line, giving a handful of candy to each person. Once every one gets their candy, they return to their seats, noises of candy wrappers being opened filling the room.

"Okay," Jimin pops a sucker into his mouth. "Now what?"

"Let's tell ghost stories" suggests Yoongi.

Taehyung can feel a shiver creep down his spine, noticeably uncomfortable with the topic. Namjoon notices. "Don't tell me you're _scared_ " says Namjoon.

"And if I was?" Taehyung shoots back.

"Forget the ghost stories then" Jin says, breaking into the conversation.

Jimin pouts. "It's not Halloween if we don't tell ghost stories." He still had a sucker in his mouth, pushed to the inside of his cheek.

"It's Halloween whether we do it or not" Jungkook says.

"How about this," Yoongi cuts in. "We'll just tone down the scary part of the story, for Taehyung's sake."

Jin glances at Taehyung. "You good with that?"

Taehyung crosses his arms, looking away. "I'm only willing to listen to one."

The group sighs.

"Fine" Jimin says in defeat. "Who's telling the story?"

The boys all say yes in unison, except Yoongi, who laid on the floor. His limbs sprawled out.

"You don't wanna tell the story? It was your idea" Hoseok says to Yoongi.

The older replies with a simple "I'm good."

"It's only right to let Jimin tell it since he's been so persistent" says Namjoon. Jimin claps in excitement, his eyes forming those alluring crescent moons. He rocks back and forth, making himself comfortable before reaching for the lit candle, not holding it too close to his face but far enough.

There's a slight pause. A moment of silence.

"Alright. Once upon a time, true story by the way, it was a chilly Halloween night-"

"Oh, I'm in this one aren't I" Hoseok interrupts.

The group shushes him quickly.

Jimin continues.

"As I was saying. Once upon a time, it was a chilly Halloween night. Freshman year, if I remember correctly."

_Jimin and Hoseok made their way down the dark and empty hallway discreetly, rolls of toilet paper in hand._

"Hobi and I had gotten high that night and decided to let our inner crackhead loose."

"I'm sorry?" Jin says, utterly confused.

"We were being a couple of dumbasses" Jimin put simply.

"But anyways,"

_The two boys had stopped at Hoseok's locker to retrieve a disk with god knows what on it._

"We had decided that we were gonna toilet paper the Dean's office and switch out his favorite music disk with a disk full of porn on it."

Jungkook's mouth was left agape, followed by a gasp that came from Jin.

"That's so tight" Jungkook says, captivated by the bravery of his older peers. Jin simply shook his head, obvious disapproval spread across his face. "I can not believe you two would do something like that."

"You can't believe it?" Yoongi asks. Jin thinks on the younger's words for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. I can believe it."

"Hey, we only get to experience high school once. It's the best time to do the wildest and dumbest shit" Hoseok says, chewing on a candy bar.

Jimin interrupts. "Can I finish please?"

The group of boys are now giving Jimin their undivided attention.

" _Anyways_ , as I was saying."

_Hoseok hands Jimin the disk so he can put his lock back onto his locker. He turns to the younger._

_"Got everything. Where we heading?" Jimin asks._

_"You've been to the Dean's office more than any of us, you should know."_

_Jimin chuckles, taking lead as both boys head up the flight of stairs to the third floor. Completely unaware of the foot steps following behind them. They stopped in front of a big red door, with a plaque that read 'PARK JUN' in big bold gold letters._

_"This is it" Jimin says quietly, clutching the toilet paper._

_"Not gonna lie, I'm kinda nervous" Hoseok says._

_Jimin looks at him, reaching over to pat his back. They had done things like this countless times so Jimin wasn't too worried despite the fact that they could get caught. But suspension wasn't a big deal to the young boy._

_"Wait" Hoseok says, leaning down to where he's face to face with the door knob. He jiggles it slightly. "Is it even unlocked?"_

_Jimin places his hand on the knob, turning it. Sure enough it opens with a creak. The boys hurriedly walked in, closing the door behind them quietly. Neither payed no mind to the fact that the door was suspiciously unlocked at this time, despite no one being in the building._

_Hoseok placed the toilet papers on the desk, glancing around the fairly sized room. He picked up a framed picture which stood on a shelf. It had the Dean posing with a woman. It looked like a wedding photo. Hoseok turns, tossing the picture to Jimin. "Catch" he says._

_Jimin is got off guard but catches it. He examines the picture. "Hm. Married man huh? Wife's gonna be pretty pissed when she hears the news that her husband has a disk full of porn."_

_The two boys laugh. Hoseok grabs the toilet paper and starts throwing sheets and then rolls onto anything it can manage to grasp. Jimin follows the action, tossing the picture to the side._

"So after we spent like 10 minutes paper toiliting the room, I popped in the disk into his music player."

"Did you, you know, test it out?" asks Taehyung, who didn't realize how intensively he was listening.

Hoseok and Jimin share a smirk. "Yeah" Jimin responds.

_Jimin popped in the disk, turning the volume down so that it wasn't too loud. It wasn't long before moans of a female started filling the office. The two boys laugh, high fiving each other. This was just too good._

_Hoseok was now by the door, wrapping his last roll of toilet paper around the lamp before he suddenly heard footsteps. Jimin, who was maybe or maybe not getting aroused by the moans, sat on the desk, unaware._

_Hoseok crouched, placing his ear against the door. "Turn it off!" Hoseok hisses. Jimin does as he says, quickly rising from his position and turning off the music player. He walks over to where Hoseok is, crouching down behind him._

_"What's wrong?" Jimin asks worridly._

_"Shh."_

_Hoseok listens carefully. He definitely hears footsteps. "Someone's out there" he whispers._

_Jimin's face is pure shock. "What? Why? It's Halloween night, why is anyone still here?"_

_Hoseok snorts. "It's Halloween night, why are_ we _here?"_

_The footsteps are quickly approaching, neither boy knowing what to do. Then the footsteps stopped. Now there was silence. Hoseok slowly backs away, bumping into Jimin in the process. "Now what?" Jimin asks._

_"I think whoever it was is gone but let's get out of here." Jimin nods in agreement, grabbing his coat that he had tossed to the side earlier. Suddenly, the footsteps start again. But this time, miscellaneous things start falling from the shelves._

_"What the fuck?" Jimin whisper shouts, backing away and bumping into Hoseok who was also frightened. Then there was thumping. Thumping against the walls. Thumping under the floor board. And the footsteps just seemed to get louder and louder._

_The two boys were a mess, clinging onto each other, chilling screams emitting from their mouths._

_"We're gonna die. We're gonna fucking die" Jimin says, clinging onto Hoseok for dear life._

_"I don't wanna die a virgin!" The redhead says, thinking that these might be his last words. They didn't notice that the door had been opened and there in the entrance stood Park Jun. The owner of the office Jimin and Hoseok just trashed._

_"Save the screaming. You both are in big trouble" He says codly. Jimin sniffles, still clinging onto Hoseok. The two boys had stopped screaming, nodding their heads in agreement._

"I almost shit my pants" Hoseok says, shivering at the thought. Namjoon laughs at his friends' expense, holding his sides.

"To this day I refuse to believe that it was some paranormal shit" Jimin says.

"Then what was it? Cause that wasn't normal" Yoongi asks.

Hoseok chimes in. "I think it was just the Dean trying to scare us."

Jin sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No wonder why the entire campus hates you guys."

"Did you ever get the porn disk back?" Jungkook asks unexpectedly.

"Nope. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing though" Jimin answers.

Taehyung chuckles lightly, letting go of a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "That wasn't so bad. Maybe I'm not as much of a scaredy cat as I thought."

Yoongi had already crept behind him with haste and without being noticed, placing his hands on Taehyung's shoulders, leaning into him, his lips brushing against the younger's ear. He was as stealth as a cat. "Boo" he says. Taehyung jumps up quickly, scurrying towards the exit.

"Fucking damn fuck shit Yoongi!" Taehyung grits out, his back pressed against the exit doors.

Yoongi laughs.

 

 

"Pussy."

 ✰✩✰

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lil thing i wrote today for halloween. also, im gonna be in stratford canada tomorrow for the shakespeare festival yay!!


	7. six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is chapter 6. ao3 would not let me publish it for some reason

 

  
**SATURDAY: SEPTEMBER 16TH**

 

Hoseok was sprawled on the hood of his dad's car which was parked in his family's garage, hovering his phone over him, typing away. His father walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him, letting his son know that he needs to pay attention. "If you keep doing this you're gonna leave a dent in the hood, Hobi."

 

  
Hoseok chuckles, propping himself up with his right arm, sliding his phone into his pocket. "Are you trying to say that I'm fat?" His father, suitcase and jacket in hand, is now on the drivers side of the car, opening the door to get in. "No, not at all. I just want you off my car." Hoseok doesn't move, challenging his father. "Now, Hoseok."

  
He sighs, sliding off of the hood. He walks over to the drivers side, tapping along the side of the car. He stops, tapping on the window, signaling his father to roll it down. He does. "So, I'm heading to Yoongi's. You don't mind if I'm out a little later do you?"

His father puts the keys into the ignition, starting the engine."Just be home by eleven." Hoseok smiles brightly. "Sweet." "No street dancing though. Not tonight. It's gonna rain." Hoseok groans, stepping away from the car. "I'll bring an umbrella or something."

"What did I say?"

"Fine." He crosses his arms, furrowing his eyebrows. His father rolls up his window, reminding Hoseok to call him when he's on his way home. He then pulls off, Hoseok pressing the appropriate button to shut the garage door behind him.

✪

  
Yoongi is laying on his bed, stomach on the mattress, flipping through a comic book. Hoseok is sitting against the wall, tapping along to a song that he's listening to on his phone. "Does your dad know you're here?" Yoongi asks matter of factly, still flipping through his comic book. "Of course he does" Hoseok responds, taking one earbud out, leaving the other one in. "You know how my dad is."

"I also know how you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hoseok's now facing the jet black haired boy. "It means that I know that you're also the rebellious type and often go against your dad's wishes."

"And what about it?" Hoseok responds, now pulling his other earbud out. "Hey" Yoongi's now looking up at Hoseok. "If you're doing something you're not supposed to, _I_ don't wanna be involved and get dragged down with you."

Hoseok taps Yoongi's leg lightly. "You're my best friend. You're supposed to."

"You have other best friends that are willing to take the fall with you. But I," he shakes his head, looking back into his comic book. "I am not one of them." Hoseok pulls the comic book out of Yoongi's hands, throwing it to the side. "I need you to come with me to Daegu."

Yoongi looks up at the now wide smiling boy, taken aback by his sudden request. "The hell do you need to go to Daegu for?" "So I can street dance. They're having a gathering or some shit like that tonight." Yoongi sits up, rising from his mattress. He ruffles his already messy hair.

"Are you allowed to go?"

Hoseok hesitates for a moment. "Uh, yeah."

"Why do I have to come with you?"

"Because it's Daegu. I'll feel a lot safer if I have you with me." He bats his pleading eyes, hoping that it will sway Yoongi to agree. The jet black, ruffled hair boy glares at the younger before sighing, giving in to him. "Okay, I'll come with you. But if I sense any _ounce_ of danger I'm dragging you by your ankles and taking you home." Hoseok claps in delight, rising from the bed.

He walks towards the door, putting on his shoes.

"To Daegu?"

** 4 ** **YEARS AGO: DAEGU**

 

Yoongi sat on the curb in front of a convenience store that sat on the corner of a busy street in Daegu. He chewed on his corn dog, savoring every bite. After spending most of his Sunday studying, he needed to get out of the house. He didn't have a lot of places to go nor a lot of friends to hang out with but he didn't care much. Sitting on curbs eating corn dogs was good enough for him.

 

Lost in thought, Yoongi didn't notice the approaching group of boys, around his age. One of them, which you would assume would be the leader, sat next to Yoongi, patting his shoulder in a friendly manner. "Thought you'd be at home studying, Suga" Unfazed, Yoongi took another bite out of his corn dog. "I finished all of my studying already." The leader nods in response. "Ah. But anyways, that's not what I came to talk about."

 

"I'd assume it wouldn't be."

 

"There's a party that I'm hosting tonight. You should come."

 

"Your parties aren't my thing."

 

"At least consider it?"

 

Yoongi rose from his current position, throwing the corn dog stick into the garbage. "Sure" he responded. The leader also rises from his position, shaking Yoongi's hand. "Dope. Hope to see you tonight." He walked away, his gang of boys following close behind. Back when Yoongi used to rap on the streets for money, that boy and his gang had come across him. They took him under his wing, showing him parts of Daegu that even Yoongi didn't know existed.

 

They'd take him to all sorts of parties that mainly consisted of drugs, alcohol, and sex. It wasn't something that Yoongi was ever interested in. After some time, Yoongi started to realize that this wasn't just some regular band of boys. He realized that they were dangerous and ultimately would lead Yoongi down a dangerous and horrible path. He didn't want to associate with them.

 

Walking in the opposite direction, staring into the blue sky, the jet black haired boy didn't even think to consider the leader's offer. He walked along the sidewalk, kicking pieces of trash and rocks along the way. It was his last day in Daegu. His parents finally had the money to move to a better area. They always thought that because they lived where they lived, that Yoongi was being held back from achieving bigger and better things.

 

Yoongi would miss Daegu though. He'd miss eating corn dogs on curbs, and running through the streets, trying to escape the gangs that he'd managed to piss off. He'd miss rapping for strangers on the streets for money, and the once in awhile shoplift of chocolate bars. Leaving wouldn't be so hard. He wasn't really leaving anything behind. 

 

He'd have it better somewhere else. He'd hoped.

 

✰✩✰

  
✅ _written september 19th; 11:05 a.m._


	8. seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i have a new story called chains (it's a yoonseok au) and it's on wattpad (where i update everything first) but for some reason ao3 won't let me post it for shit lol

**SUNDAY: SEPTEMBER 17TH**

  
The streets of Daegu were busy as usual. It was Sunday evening but everyone was out. Heading to work, heading to parties, or just simply hanging around on the street. Of course there were the gangs on the corners that people avoided. The lights from the buildings and signs lit up the sky.

Yoongi and Hoseok walked down the busy street, Hoseok admiring the lights and different business carts parked on the curbs.

"Too busy for a Sunday" Yoongi said, hands in his pockets. "And you said there was nothing here for you?" Hoseok asked, still exploring the streets with his eyes.

"Nothing worth staying around for."

Now looking at Yoongi, Hoseok nodds his head. "Thanks for coming with me."

"As long as your dad said it was okay."

Hoseok played with his hands nervously.

"About that."

Yoongi stops in his tracks, turning around to face Hoseok who has also stopped walking. The blonde haired boy glares at him.

"Hoseok?"

Hoseok shuffles his feet, not looking at the boy giving him death glares.

"My dad doesn't actually know I'm here."

Yoongi flails his arms in the air, groaning irritably. "I told you that I didn't wanna be involved in any of your rebellious crap."

"There's no point in bitching now" the younger protests. Hoseok looks up at Yoongi. "Are you still gonna come with me?"

Yoongi paces, contemplating his choices. He didn't have that many. He stops, tapping his foot and sighs.

"Well, we're already here so."

Hoseok perks up, hugging Yoongi. "Thanks."

"Is this dance battle or whatever really that important to you?"

Hoseok shakes his head. "Not really, but I appreciate you doing this for me."Then we can go home, right?". Hoseok grabs him by his wrist, pulling him along the streets of Daegu. "But we're already here, aren't we?"

✪

 

**MONDAY: SEPTEMBER 18TH**

 

It was during lunch. Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin all sit at the new round table, which was purchased for their club room. Namjoon lightly shakes the table, surprised with how steady it is. 

 

"Ah" he coos. "It doesn't shake with every light touch. Pure bliss."

 

Jimin, who's sitting next to Namjoon, taps his shoulder, pointing to the new computers hooked up on the other side of the room. "Are those _Apple_ computers?" 

 

Everyone turns to face in direction in which Jimin is pointing in. 

 

They all make noises of amazement, walking towards the computer. "These look expensive" says Taehyung, running his fingers along the keyboard.

 

Jungkook reaches for the power button, turning the computer on. He doesn't wanna show it because it was Jin who bought these computers, but he was grateful for them. 

 

"Are we sure that these are for us?" Yoongi asks with a quizzical look on his face. 

 

"They're hooked up in our club room, aren't they?" Hoseok responds.

 

As the boys are admiring the computers, Jin walks in. They turn, turning all of their attention to him. 

 

"Um, hello?" he says, placing his bag on the no longer wobbly table. Jungkook points at the computers. 

 

"You bought these?" 

 

Jin chuckles, sitting down in one of the newly bought chairs. "Of course I did. With the money from the fundraiser of course. I'd never spend my own money on this club." 

 

Jungkook scoffs in response. Namjoon walks over, reaching to shake Jin's hand. "Thank you so much." 

 

He smiles at the older. Jin surprisingly returns the hand shake, shocked at the sudden friendliness from Namjoon. "You're welcome?" 

 

Jungkook returns to his seat. 

 

 

 

"Thanks. I guess" he says, slouching in his chair. 

 

Jin laughs. "Did Jeon Jungkook just _thank_ me?"

 

Jungkook turns his head in the opposite direction, looking out the window. "Don't get used to it."

 

"Oh!" Jimin shouts happily. "The hole in the window's fixed." 

 

"You're also welcome" Jin says, feeling proud of himself for keeping his word. 

 

"So you spent all of that money that you got from those crazed fangirls on this club room?" asks Yoongi. 

 

"Well." Jin rises from his seat, heading towards the exit of the club room. He gestures for the boys to follow him. They do. He holds the door open for them as they exit one by one. 

 

"Close your eyes" he says. 

 

"For what?" asks Taehyung, looking confused. 

 

"Just do it." commands Jungkook, eyes already closed. The boys shrug their shoulders, closing their eyes. 

 

"Now turn around."

 

They do as he says, lightly bumping into each other since they can't see where they're turning. 

 

"Now look up and open your eyes." 

 

As they do, they're met with a big, brightly colored digital board hung over the entrance to the clubroom. It reads "Bulletproof Boy Scouts: Bangtan" in big white letters. They ooh and ah in amazement, admiring the colors.

 

Jungkook turns to Jin. "We didn't need a sign." 

 

"No one's gonna know what this is if there isn't something to specify that" Jin responds. 

 

Jimin interrupts, hugging Jin tightly, giving him one of his famous crescent eyed smiles. Jin is taken aback by the sudden affection. "For someone that swears he despises us, you sure care a lot." says Jimin, releasing his hold from Jin. 

 

The rest of them walk over, giving Jin pats and hugs of thanks. Jungkook stands in his same postion, looking at the sign. "I guess I've gotten comfortable" Jin admits. 

 

"Jin hyung cares about us now" says Taehyung. 

 

Everyone says "hyung" in unison, surpised at their friend that isn't Jimin using the formality. After fully basking in the glory of their new sign, the boys re-enter the club room, except Jungkook. He reaches for Jin's arm, pulling him aside. He clears his throat. 

 

"Thank you. For all of this. We really appreciate it."

 

Jin felt something. It had pecked at him since he'd met the youngest Bangtan. He couldn't grasp what it was. The boy who had threatened to punch him was now looking at him with a sense of admiration. Like he looked up to him. 

 

"Do you still hate me?" the older asks. Jungkook ponders this question. "I don't think I ever hated you to begin with. I was judging a book by it's cover I guess." 

 

Jin nods. They had been staring at each other for what seemed like hours before facing different directions. Yoongi walks out, tapping on the door to catch their attention. "Lunch is over." 

 

Jungkook pats Jin on the shoulder, walking past him and into the club room. Yoongi follows, leaving Jin in the hallway.

 

He runs his hand along the spot where Jungkook had patted him. 

 

_"What is this feeling?"_

 

✰✩✰

 

**ew i kinda dont like this chapter. as i was going through and editing it i just thought i could have did better but what's done is done**

 

  
✅ _written september 20th; 12:35 p.m._


	9. eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> im posting this on a computer at school and it looks weird as fuck so i might be editing it throughout the day

**WEDNESDAY: SEPTEMBER 20TH**

 

Jin sat on one of the benches placed outside of the school. It was lunch time and he was enjoying his sandwhich in peace. Jisoo approaches the bench, sitting on the other end. She ruffles the ends of her skirt, looking around nervously. Jin takes another bite of his sandwich before acknowledging her.

"Jisoo?" Jin says, still chewing on his sandwich. She hesitates before answering. 

"Uh. Hi, Jin."

He stopped eating his sandwich and stares at her. She wasn't acting like herself. "You okay?" he asks. She hesitates again. She now found this to be harder than she thought it would be. She sighs. 

"Okay. Well." She turns towards him, hands on her thighs, no longer ruffling the ends of her skirt. "Wanna be friends?" she blurts out. He stares at her for a moment, trying to find any hints on her face of this being a trap. There were none. Before he could answer, she started again.

"I know that the ways in which I've approached you have been....uh. Non-friendly?" 

He continued to listen, gazing at her. 

"Look." She waves her hands as if she's shaking something off. "I've never tried to be an actual friend to you so I wanna start now. Sound good?" 

Jin takes a moment to process the information, a half eaten sandwich still in hand. He chuckles. "I thought we were already friends?"

 Jisoo gives him a look of surprise, clearly at a lost for words.

"I thought you didn't like me?"

"I  _do_ like you. When you're not prying into my personal life and making romantic advances towards me." 

She slouches against the bench, still absorbing all that just happened. "Sorry about that, by the way. Guess I should have started off with the friendly approach." 

Jin stuffs the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth, using a napkin to wipe his hands, throwing it and the wrapper into the garbage located next to the bench.

He rises from his seat, holding his hand out to Jisoo. "Friends? Like, officially?"

She hesitates again before placing her smaller hand into Jin's, shaking it. "Yeah. Friends." 

She stands, patting down the wrinkles in her skirt. "You know, you're actually not as much as an ass as people paint you out to be." 

Jin is taken aback. "Come again?" 

Realizing what she just said, Jisoo bows in thanks and turns to leave.

Jin tries to grab the end of her blazer sleeve but misses. "Where are you going? You didn't answer my question."

Picking up her pace, Jisoo doesn't look back. "See you later, Jin!" she shouts.

✪

Jimin and Jungkook are sitting at their back table in Calculus. Jimin is half paying attention, typing away on his phone. Jungkook's head is down on the table, looking out of the window placed on the other side of the room, dazed. He glances over to Jin's seat on the other side in front of the window. He's not there.

_"Why do I care?"_

The teacher's explaining is white noise to Jungkook, who's now falling in and out of sleep, the sunlight half hitting him. Why is Jin late? He's usually on time.

_Jin._

Jimin lightly taps against the desk, snapping Jungkook out of his sleepy trance. 

"Kookie?" 

He raises his head quickly, looking around. "What?" he responded. 

"Are you okay?" Jimin asks. He's whispering. 

Jungkook wipes the side of his cheek with his hand. "What are you talking about?" asks Jungkook. 

"I thought I heard you mumble something in your sleep." Jimin responds.

The teacher slams his textbook on to their desk, making Junkgook jump. 

"This conversation must be more important than what I'm teaching. Mind sharing it with everyone?" 

Jimin looks up, giving the teacher his crescent eyed smile. "No, not at all. Sorry, Mr. Kim." 

Mr. Kim shakes his head, picking up his book from the desk. Suddenly Jin enters the room.

Mr. Kim turns to him. "Is there a reason why you're 15 minutes late, Seok-jin?"

Jin bows as an apology, making his way to his seat next to Mark. Mark pats his shoulder as a way of greeting his friend. "I didn't hear the bell ring. I was eating lunch outside." he answers. 

"Don't let it happen again." answers Mr. Kim. He returns to the front of the class and continues to teach. Jimin balls up a small piece of paper, throwing it to Jin to get his attention.

Jin turns around, looking at Jimin. Jimin waves, mouthing "Hi hyung". Jin glares at him before turning back around, flipping around in his notebook. Jimin giggles. Jungkook looks on at the interaction, not realizing just how long he's been staring at Jin. He turns the other way quickly.

"Alright everyone" says Mr. Kim. He claps loudly to get the attention of the students. 

"For this next project you'll be doing something totally unrelated to Calculus." The class groans. "I will put you into groups of two, so don't worry about choosing your own partners." 

The class groans again. 

"I hope we're partners" whispers Jimin. Jungkook prays to himself that Jimin will be his partner. He doesn't associate with anyone else in the class besides him. Jungkook is lost in thought when Mr. Kim calls his name.

"Kim Seok-jin and Jeon Jungkook." 

Jungkook is snapped out of his deep thinking. He shoots out of his chair, raising his hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Kim. Can I work with Jimin instead?"

Mr. Kim smiles at him. "No. Take a seat, Mr. Jeon." Jungkook frowns, sitting back in his seat.

"Damn. Looks like we won't be working together this time" says Mark. 

Jin slouches in his chair. "Guess not. Who were you working with again? I wasn't listening." 

"Park Jimin. He's from Bangtan, right?"

Jin laughs in amusement. "Good luck with that." 

"Now" says Mr. Kim. 

"The project. You and your partner will write a thesis on each other. You'll observe each other, your personality traits, your habits, and your emotions. Then you'll write a one page, front and back, thesis on what you've observed. You'll have to spend a lot of time together, that includes going over each other's houses but that can be discussed among yourselves. You'll have a month to work on this project and you will present it in class."

The class is already quietly whispering among themselves. 

"Sound good?" asks Mr. Kim. The class says "yes" in unison. 

The bell rings. 

"You can discuss what you're gonna do in the coming week. Good luck! Class is dismissed." 

The class rises from their seats, exiting the classroom, talking amongst themselves. Jungkook bangs his head against the desk. 

"I hate this" Jungkook groans. Jimin is putting his books into his bookbag. 

"Look at the bright side, you're working with Jin." 

"That is not a good thing, Chim." 

"I thought you two squashed everything" Jimin says, looking at Mark, his partner. Jungkook raises his head, getting out of his chair and slings his bookbag over his shoulder. Jin approaches the two boys. 

"Jeon Jungkook it seems that you are my partner, so." 

"So?" asks Jungkook. 

"Let's do well, yeah?" Jin responds. 

"Look" Jungkook walks up to Jin. "You may have won my friends over with that sign and all that other shit and I appreciate all that you've done but you haven't changed. I refuse to believe that." 

"Kookie" Jimin protests. He doesn't let Jimin finish or Jin respond, as he's already exiting the classroom.

"He still hates me?" Jin asks Jimin. Jimin shrugs his shoulders. 

"Fine. He can be like that." and with that, Jin turns and walks out of the classroom. Jimin sighs.

"Children."

✰✩✰

  
**im so proud of namjoon yall. #speakyourself**

✅ _written september 30th_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i get a fanbase, cause i will, speaking that into existence, im gonna call yall my space cowboys. you guys good with that? also, THANK YOU FOR 1000+ HITS im so happy that people are reading my story and actually like it so much to the point where yall leave kudos and BOOKMARK IT, i can never explain how much i appreciate it. YEEEEEEHAW


	10. nine

 

**FRIDAY: SEPTEMBER 28TH**

 

Yoongi, Taehyung, and Hoseok were out on the field playing soccer which left only Jimin, Jungkook, and Namjoon in the club room. It was after school.

 

"Well, we have new equipment and tables and stuff so it should be easier to attract some members now" said Namjoon, tapping his blue coated pencil against the table. 

 

"Thanks to Jin, we've gotten four more requests to join" added Jimin, who was leaning against the edge of the table. 

 

Jungkook shuffled in his chair, not caring to add on to the conversation. 

 

"How many more members do we need?" asked Namjoon. Jimin checked his phone for the email sent by the principal. 

 

"There's seven of us now and we need 10 to be a complete club so three more should do." 

 

Namjoon smiled to himself, happy that he wouldn't have to lose the club after all.

 

"We're not just gonna add anyone, are we?" Jungkook cut in, a hint of concern in his voice. Jimin and Namjoon looked at each other then back at Jungkook. 

 

"Well, no" Jimin answered. Jungkook, satisfied with the answer leaned back into his chair. 

 

Just as his leaning back, Jin busts through the door, causing Jungkook to fall out his chair. He slams his bookbag onto the table, causing Namjoon to flinch. Jimin is no longer leaning on the table, walking over to calm his hyung. "What's wrong with you?" asks Jimin. Jin disregards his question, walking over to Jungkook.

 

"You know we were supposed to start our project like a week ago, right?" Jin asks. Jungkook shrugs his shoulders, rising from the floor. He pats down his pants and then takes a seat in his chair.

 

"So now you're gonna act like you don't care?" Jin starts pacing around the room. Namjoon stops him, rubbing his arm to calm him down. 

 

"What's going on with you two?" he asks. 

 

"Oh, nothing. Jungkook just decided that he hates me again." 

 

Jungkook bites his button lip, visibly agitated.

 

"I already told you that I don't hate you."

 

"Then what is it? Why do you resent me still to the point where you don't even wanna do a damn project with me?"

 

Jungkook rises from his chair just as the other three boys who were playing soccer walk in. He walks to the exit, reaching for his bookbag which was hung by the door. Taehyung and Hoseok head the the fridge to grab a bottle of water and Yoongi takes a seat in a chair set at the table.

 

"Did we miss something?" Taehyung asks between sips of water. 

 

"Where are you going, Jungkook?" Jin calls out.

 

"Home" he responds. Not looking back, he opens the door, exiting the club room. Jin follows him. 

 

Namjoon sighs, taking a seat in his chair. "Am I the only one that thinks Kookie is being a dick?" asks Jimin. Everyone shakes their head in disagreement.

 

Jungkook is walking down the hallway, Jin following close behind. The younger stops abruptly, Jin bumping into his back. He turns to face the older. 

 

"What do you want from me, Jin?" 

 

"An explanation. Why do you hate me?" 

 

Jungkook isn't quick to answer. He stares out the window. The leaves are starting to change colors. The sun was starting to set. It was oddly chilly in the empty hallway. Jin snaps his fingers, trying to get Jungkook's attention.

 

Jungkook sighs, turning back to face Jin. "You haven't changed. I won't be quick to believe that like everyone else has." 

 

Jin scratches the back of his head, leaning against the wall. "Alright. That I can understand. But what do you want me to do about it?"

 

"Prove to me that you've changed." 

 

Jin chuckles, throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Prove it to you?" He shakes his head.

 

"Yeah" responds Jungkook. "I'll do this stupid project with you but don't think that things will be fine and dandy between us."

 

"Right" Jin dryly responds. He pushes himself off of the wall, turning to face the opposite direction of the younger. "I'll try my best to _prove it to you._ But you've got to want things to change too. Remember that." 

 

And with that, Jin starts off in the other direction, leaving Jungkook alone in the empty hallway with no response.

 

" _You've got to want things to change too"_

 

✪

 

** MONDAY: OCTOBER 1ST **

 

Jin and Mark are sitting at their usual lunch table. Jin got a salad and some fries, as always. And Mark had gotten the cheese pizza. The school lunch really wasn't all that. The two friends were talking about classwork.

  
"How's Jimin?" Jin asks, chewing on multiple fries at a time. Mark had just finished swallowing the last of his pizza.

"He's not as bad as I thought he would be," he wipes his fingers with his napkin. "He gets his work done. He's also nice to talk to. An interesting character to say the least." Jin looks at him wide-eyed, surprised with the good response.

"What about you?" Mark asks.

Jin bites into another fry, slumping in his chair. He groans in frustration. "He still hates me."

"Still?" Mark says, turning to dunk the napkin into the nearby trash can.

"Well, he doesn't _hate_ me persay, he just doesn't trust that I've changed."

Mark turns back around after missing the shot, his right arm propped on the table with his elbow, chin in his palm. "Have you?" he asks.

"Well," Jin looks down, swallowing his fry. "I'd like to think I've changed some. Of course I'm not gonna become a better me over night. But that's no reason for Jungkook to still treat me the way he's been treating me."

"I remember sitting at this exact table not even a month ago," Mark starts. Jin cuts him off.

"I already know where you're going with this so cut it out."

Mark chuckles, shifting in his chair. "Here me out, Jinnie boy."

Jin groans, not looking foward to the lecture.

"You sat here, right in front of me, and said you'd never get along with Bangtan. And now you wanna go as far as to _change_ for those said boys."

Jin continues to look down, playing with his tie. "And? Things change" he says.

"Nice character development" Mark says with a cheesy smile. "Who got you whipped, Jin?"

Jin is now looking up, locking eyes with his best friend. "What are you talking about?"

"Somebody in that group had to have done or said something that flipped a switch in you. Was it Jungkook?"

"No" Jin says without hesitation. "No. It's just," He shuffles in his chair, looking in another direction. "You're the only real friend I've got. So it feels good to finally have other people that care and wanna hang out with me without being fuled by some stupid obsession."

Mark nods his head in understanding. He rises from his chair, picking up after himself. "Just don't fall for any of them" he says, patting Jin's shoulder.

Jin scoffs. "Not a chance in hell."

✰✩✰

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im starting to catch up with my prewritten chapters so updates might be slower


	11. ten

 

**truce**

 

/tro͞os/

 

_noun_

 

an agreement between enemies or opponents to stop fighting or arguing for a certain time.

 

*******

 

Jin sat alone in the partially empty library. Mark had offered to stay with him while he worked but Jin denied the request. He wanted to be alone. He had a paper due in a week but he wanted to get a headstart and thought he'd do better without the distractions.

 

  
The main entrance of the library's door swung open slowly, followed by a quiet shut. Jin could hear footsteps walking towards him but he was too wrapped up in his work to look up. The source of the footsteps now stood in front of the table. Jin finally decided to look up.

  
"Oh. Hey, Jisoo" He said.

"Hi" She responded. "Can I sit?"

Jin waved his hand in a way that signaled she could sit down, he was now looking at his paper again.

Jisoo smiled, delighted to be welcomed. She grabbed a chair, dragging it softly to the table, and sat down on the other side. "What are you up to?"

Jin furrowed his eyebrows, running his fingers through his slick, brown hair.

"This paper. For History" He responded.

She nods, looking around, tapping her feet.

"Mind if I ask a kind of personal question?"

"Asking? Have you ever asked before? You usually just _do_ _._ " He laughs.

She returns the gesture with a light-hearted chuckle. "We're friends and all now. I'm not trying to overstep any boundaries."

"Go ahead then. Ask."

Jisoo shuffles in her chair. They may be friends now but she's still nervous nonetheless. "Uh. Are you like," She tries to swallow. "Are you cool with Bangtan now?"

Jin looks up, attention no longer on the paper. The two lock eyes for what seem like minutes before she nervously turns away.

"You don't have to answer. Don't worry about it. Forget I asked" She rambles on. Jin places his chin in his palm, tapping his pencil on the table lightly.

"I don't remember you being so scared to speak to me, Ji."

Jisoo's heart flutters at the sudden use of her nickname. "Well shit, Jin" She curses.

Jin laughs, sitting back in his chair. "Yeah, I'm cool with them now. Well, at least _most_ of them."

Jisoo is now intrigued. In fact, more intrigued than nervous. "What do you mean?"

Jin sighs, resting his head against the wall.

"It's Jungkook. No big deal."

Jisoo leans into the table, closer now. It's as if her nosy instincts had taken over.

"Jungkook? He doesn't like you?"

"He doesn't believe that I've changed. And quite frankly, I don't either at this point."

"But you're trying, right?" she asks.

"Well, yeah. I don't want him to hate me forever."

Jisoo smiles. "Then don't worry about it. I think you've changed. Hell, you agreed to be my friend and the fact that you're sitting here and talking to me says a lot. If you recognize your big flaws and strive to improve then that's really all someone could ask for. You're only human."

It's quiet after that. You could hear the running of students coming from lunch. The noises coming from the vents. You could hear the breeze that came in everytime the front entrance door opened and closed. Jin was still trying to absorb all that the girl said. She was right, definitely. But for some reason he couldn't find the right words to respond with.

"Cat got your tongue?" she asked, snapping Jin out of his thoughts.

He shakes his head. "You were just a nervous wreck and now you're cocky?"

She chuckles, getting up from her seat, pushing it in. Jin also rises, collecting his things and putting them in his bag. He swings it over his shoulder while pushing in the chair.

"I don't know how but I find it easy to talk to you again" she says.

"Sure" he responds with a smirk. "I appreciate the talk though, Ji. Really put things in perspective for me."

Her heart fluttered again. She tried to hide it by turning in the other direction. "Don't call me that. It's restricted to close friends only" she pouts. He shrugs, walking past her in the direction of the exit.

"Hopefully I'll be on that list of friends soon enough" he says, turning to smile to her and he waves, before turning back around and leaving.

Her heart skipped ten beats.

*******

  
"I think I've made a mistake" Jisoo says defeated, her head laid on the desk. Jennie was sitting next to her, laughing at her expense. "It's not funny" Jisoo pouted.

"What are you depressed about now?" asks Jennie. Jisoo picks her head up from her desk propping both of her elbows on top and placing her chin in her palms.

"I'm not depressed. In fact, I think I've fallen harder for Jin."

Jennie groans, turning the page in her notebook. She was writing a new rap.  
"I thought that if I had just decided to _friendzone_ myself and just be his friend then I'd get over him easier but it's not working."

Jennie continued to write in her book, half paying attention to the conversation. Jisoo taps her shoulder.

"Jennie? Are you listening?"

She looks up, running her fingers through her hair. "Yes, Ji. I'm listening."

Jisoo turns to look out the window. It was finally starting to look like fall. "Jin called me Ji."

Jennie's now fully engaged. "He what?"

Jisoo turns back around to face Jennie.

"He called me Ji. And when I tell you that my heart skipped like a million beats."

"Are you in love with him?"

Jisoo shakes her head quickly. "No" she blurts. Jennie chooses to ignore the fact that her best friend is blushing.

"I thought you wanted to get over him."

"I do" she responds. "I'm gonna. We wouldn't work out anyways. I'm going to get over him."

Jennie smiles, reaching out to pat Jisoo's head, messing it up in the process.

"I appreciate that you care so much about my love life" Jisoo says jokingly.

Jennie chuckles, returning to her rap. "I just want what's best for you."

Jisoo leans in closely, face to face with Jennie. Jennie pulls away quickly, flustered with the close contact. "What are you writing" Jisoo asks, oblivious.

"Um, it's a new rap."

"What's it called?"

Jennie hesitates to answer.

Jisoo is poking at her shoulder again.

"What's it calleddddd."

"It's called _Unrequited Love_."

"Ah" Jisoo coos. "A love rap? Who's it about?"

Jennie closes her book, putting it in her book bag. "Jin was right."

Jisoo tilts her head, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You're nosy."

*******

  
The sun setting made a beautiful color. A warming hue of orange. Half of the school was empty, except for the after school clubs. Jimin, Taehyung, Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok had already headed home for the evening. Which only left Jin and Jungkook in the clubroom. Each boy had a sheet of paper placed in front of them, pencils on the side. Both sheets of paper were blank. 

"So" Jin says.

"So?" responds Jungkook.

"Where are you from?" Jin asks. It was visibly obvious that Jungkook didn't wanna be there. Neither did Jin. But they had to start their project at some point.

"I'm from Busan."

Jin nods his head, jotting down notes. "You?" asks Jungkook.

"Gyeonggi-do."

Jungkook groans in irritation. "I hate Calculous. I hate this project."

"Don't start" Jin says. There's silence again. Jin rises from his chair, pacing around the room. He stops in his tracks, turning to face Jungkook. "I'm trying, okay? I'm trying."

"What the hell are you talking about?" asks Jungkook, slouching in his chair.

"I don't wanna be here just as much as you don't and I could have went home but I didn't" Jin responds rather impatiently.

"Well you should've" Jungkook mutters. 

Jin sits down, putting his forehead into his hands. He seems to be losing his patience but isn't quite there yet.

"I'm trying to change, alright? Not just for the group but for myself too" Jin says.

No response from Jungkook. Jin takes his pencil and starts jotting down more notes.

"What are you writing?" Jungkook asks hesitantly.

Jin slides him the paper. It has where Jungkook is from written on the first line and under it says "stubborn".

"Stubborn?" he says questionably.

"Stubborn. You're stubborn. And you don't like change."

Jungkook is taken aback with how spot on the older was.

"Do you wanna be friends?" Jin asks.

Jungkook, who wasn't looking at Jin all this time, was now looking directly at him. The last time they had locked eyes like this was when Jin revealed the sign. And before that, when Jungkook challenged Jin on that first day of school.

"I guess" he says quietly, looking away again.

"So," Jin leaves his seat and walks over to Jungkook. He stops in front of him, leaving a few inches of space between them. He holds out his right hand, signaling that he wants to shake hands. "If I work on me then will you work on you?"

"Huh?" Jungkook says.

"We've both gotta put in some type of effort if we're gonna get along."

Jungkook stares at the older boy's hand for moments that feel like centuries.

 _"I don't hate him"_ he thinks to himself.

 _"He's willing to try_ _."_ And Jungkook wants to try too. He admits to himself that he's just being stubborn at this point. He really doesn't like change.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Jungkook places his hand into the older's, completing the handshake.

 _"His hands are soft"_ the younger thinks to himself.

Jin smiles, pulling his hand away. He returns to his seat, picking up his pencil. "Can we finish now?"

"Sure" the younger responds. He rubs his hands together and smells them. It smells of strawberry scented lotion. He places them on his face, scooting back into the table.

_"Soft_ _."_

✰✩✰

 

**A/N:** my author's notes are always long for no reason so im gonna make this short and simple:

 

-you know those dates i put at the top of every chapter? taking those off. they're pointless to me  
\- the dates when i wrote the chapters that i put at the end? gone  
\- the star whenever the setting changes? gone too  
-im gonna post all my prewritten chapters first before i write a new one  
-ill be making minor tweaks to the book every now and again, to make it look neater

 

that's about it. also, thank you guys very much. i published this book in september and in the course of 2 and a half months it's gained 400+ views which i didn't think was even possible being the small following i have. i love when the people i write for actually take the time to read what i write. it just encourages me to do more. so again, thank you so so so much my little space cowboys, your views and votes and comments will never go underappreciated.

 

this is long as fuck LMAO remember how i said i was gonna make this short and simple? well that was a lie. anyways, get good rest and eat well and have a good day/night okay? and stream simon says ok bye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that author's note is so long im sorry. support my story on wattpad by leaving comments or votes, it's greatly appreciated. new chapter posted the day after i publish it on wattpad. until next update, space cowboys


	12. eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's only been like 3 days but im so impatient so new chapter

It was late in the school day. Everyone was in his or her assigned class. Except for Yoongi and Jimin. They had decided to skip History for the second time this week. The two boys walked down the hallway, carefully avoiding any classroom windows that could give them away. Jimin ran his fingers along the wall, humming a tune.

"Oh shit" said Yoongi suddenly, still walking.

Jimin whipped his head, facing Yoongi. No longer humming the tune. "What?" He asked.

"Did we have homework?" Yoongi responded. The younger shrugged his shoulders, now skipping slightly down the hall. "Even if we did, I'm sure Tae will send it to us."

  
Jimin suddenly stops in his tracks. "I have a thought." He leaned his back against a board with school announcements attached to it. He closed his eyes, as if he was trying to think back to something. Yoongi had stopped too, leaning against the window on the other side of the hall, the coldness of the window from the October weather giving him goosebumps.

"Do you think that Jin hyung and Kookie will get along?" asked Jimin.

Yoongi groaned, resting his head against the cold window. "Why do you insist on calling him hyung?"

"Because he's my hyung" Jimin shot back.

"I'm your hyung too but you don't call me that."

"Because you're Yoongi. Just Yoongi. Do you prefer that I add the hyung? Yoongi hyu-"

Yoongi holds his hand out towards Jimin, a signal telling him to stop. "I'm good" he said dryly. He sighed, turning his head to the side to look out of the window. They were on the third floor of the building, and could admire the fall scenery laid before them.

"I think," Yoongi starts.

The wind blowed, pushing the tree branches into the window. The hallway was completely empty and quiet. Only the blowing of wind and leaves to be heard.

Yoongi opened his eyes, turning back to face Jimin, who was looking at him intently. "I think they'll get along. Jungkook is stubborn as fuck but so is Jin, kind of. They're alike in more ways than they think."

Jimin looks down, absorbing the older's opinion on the situation. "I hope it works out" he says quietly.

Yoongi cocks an eyebrow. "Are you attached?" he asks.

Jimin shuffles his feet, still looking down. "He's a good guy. And I definitely could see him being one of us" the younger finally responds.

"A Bangtan boy?" asks the older.

"A good friend" Jimin answers.

The bell rings. Classes upon classes of students flood the halls, talking amongst themselves. Jimin looks up again, leaning off of the board. Yoongi follows his actions.

"Wanna go meet Taehyung?" asks Jimin.

Yoongi suddenly has a thought. Without answering Jimin, he quickly jogs down the hall. "Yoongi!" Jimin calls out.

"Tae's got the homework!" Yoongi calls back, running now to meet his friend.

*******

After school came faster than expected. Groups of girls were crowded in front of the school gate, gossiping about today's events. Boys were off in their own area playing soccer or football. And of course you had the rest waiting for their parents. As for Bangtan, they were held up in their clubroom, waiting for Jin.

Mark was in there too. Both him and Jimin were on one side of the room finishing up their thesis'. Jungkook, Namjoon, and Hoseok were on the computer playing a video game. And Yoongi? Well, Yoongi was sleeping. The two boys cheered around Jungkook as he wins his fourth round.

Jin walks in, causing everyone to turn their attention to him. A small figure follows behind him, to everyone's surprise, It's Jisoo.

"Who's she?" Hoseok asks, walking over to greet the foreign figure.

Jisoo stood behind Jin, visibly nervous in the new atmosphere.

"This is Jisoo, everyone." Jin responds.

"The girl that's weirdly obsessed with you?" Taehyung blurts out, eyes back on the computer since he's decided to take over the game.

Jisoo steps from behind the older, offended by the title. "I'm not  _obsessed"_ She says, crossing her arms.

"Jin hyung has a girlfriend?" Jimin asks, walking over. He's standing in front of Jisoo, giving her his signature crescent-eyed smile.

Jisoo feels her face heat up but doesn't let the title throw her off.

"No. Not a girlfriend. Just a friend. Guys can be friends with girls and not be dating them."

Jimin claps his hand in delight. "She's adorable, hyung" he coos.

"We're friends" Jin says sternly. A sign that everyone should drop the discussion.

Hoseok, who was standing on one side of the doorway, is now walking towards the table, taking a seat on the surface.

Yoongi groans, catching the attention of everyone else. He's been awoken. "The fuck" He starts, rising from the lounging couch he was napping on.

"Great. Y'all have awoken the beast" says Namjoon.

"Kitty's awake!" says Jimin, coming to take a seat next to Yoongi who's still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Just stick to calling me Yoongi."

It takes a moment but Yoongi finally notices the unfamiliar figure present in the club room. He examines her with stern eyes, looking her up and down. "Who the fuck is she and why the fuck is she in here?" Asks Yoongi, who's a bit agitated from being woken up from his slumber.

Hoseok makes a tsk noise in response. "Language, Yoongs. She hasn't done anything to you," He gives her a side glance. "Yet" He finishes.

"Hi, Jisoo" Mark says. Everyone had forgotten that he was still there for a second, sitting by the computers. Jisoo responds to the greeting with a smile. She's not very familiar with Mark but she does know that he's Jin's best friend. Namjoon and Taehyung take a seat at the table, following Jungkook. Jimin remains on the couch next to Yoongi, who's slouching into the pillows.

"Anyways" says Jin, walking over to the mini fridge to retrieve a drink. "I have a proposal."

Everyone, who previously just nonchalant, are now interested in what the older has to say. Jin takes a sip of his drink and then puts it back into the fridge. He grabs a chair that was originally pushed against the table and drags it to the front and center of the room. He turns it, so the seat is facing the door and sits in it, legs on either side, facing the group.

"We should plan a Halloween Ball."

"Halloween Ball?" Jungkook says, scratching the back of his head.

Hoseok shakes his head, clearly uncertain with the proposal. "You want us to plan a Halloween Ball?"

"Yep" Jin answers, a determined smile on his face.

"Why?" Yoongi says rather bluntly.

"Because it would be fun" Jisoo answers in place of Jin. She has her back against the exit door, arms still crossed. These boys intimidate her. But she would never let them know that. "And it'll be good for your image. Getting involved in school activities and what not."

"I don't give two shits about how people perceive me or my friends to be honest" Yoongi says codly.

"Yoongi" Namjoon hisses.

"What's your deal?" Jisoo asks irritability.

"You," He shifts, placing his arms behind his head, closing his eyes. "Girls like you, of your stature, tend to bring along issues."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" She shoots back.

"Nothing" Mark cuts in. "Continue on about the ball."

"So the night of Halloween" Jin starts again. Everyone is looking at him intently, especially Jisoo. She doesn't realize how hard she's staring.

Jungkook catches it, shifting in his chair. He doesn't know why but he feels a ping of jealousy. He doesn't let the feeling stick, brushing it off as Jin continues his statement.

"The school has a ball. Every year. Almost every club has taken part in putting it together so I thought that we should do it."

"Well actually" Jisoo steps up, a little more confidence in her demeanor. "It was my idea."

"Great" Yoongi responds, a blank expression on his face.

Jimin bounces up and down on the couch in excitement. "Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm in."

"Me too" Taehyung says with a boxy smile.

Jin smiles in delight. "Jungkook? Namjoon? Yoongi? Hoseok?"

Hoseok shrugs his shoulders, a "why not" type of gesture. "Sure."

Namjoon and Jungkook also agree.

"I'm down" says Yoongi.

"Doesn't putting together a ball require  _money_?" Jungkook asks.

"That we don't have" Namjoon adds.

"Jinnie will pay for it. Won't you, Jinnie?" Mark asks, a playful grin on his face.

"Jinnie?" Jungkook laughs.

Jin gives Mark and Jungkook a deathly glare.

"Yes. I'll pay for whatever I need to pay for but you all have to chip in too in some way." Jin answers.

Everyone nods in agreement. Yoongi rises from his spot, leaving the empty space warm. He stretches, his eyes closing in the process. He yawns. "She's not gonna be here often, is she?" He's referring to Jisoo.

She snorts, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I'll be here often. I need to help you guys because I know for a fact that none of you know how to put together a school event."

Yoongi sighs, walking over to the racks by the exit door, collecting his belongings. "As long as she doesn't disturb the peace that is our friendship then I don't care what she does."

She scoffs in response. "Don't worry, I won't disturb your precious peace,  _Suga_."

Yoongi turns around quickly, mouth agape. "What did you just say?"

"You're underground rapping discography is quite impressive" she says with a devilish smirk. Jisoo didn't intentionally stumble across his underground rap. She often hangs at Jennie's house and she's witnessed first hand the pool of devotion and talent that is the underground rapping community. Jennie often talks about her role model, the renowned Suga, to Jisoo.

Jisoo put two and two together but didn't pry on the jet black haired boy named Yoongi. But she always knew.

Yoongi doesn't respond. Instead, he shakes his head, laughing quietly to himself. "See you guys tomorrow" he says, leaving the room. Jisoo smiles to herself in triumph.

She turns back to face the rest of the group. "We're gonna be seeing lots of each other from now on so let's get along, yeah?"

*******

It was 7 pm. Everyone had already went home for the day. Jin stayed behind to clean up the clubroom. Jisoo insisted on staying to help but he declined, saying that he's good on his own. They exchanged phone numbers so they could keep in touch in terms of plans for the ball. And also because they're friends now. What friends don't have each other's numbers?

There was a faint knock at the door. Then it was opened. Jin was wiping down the tables when he looked up, being greeted with a visibly tired Jungkook. "Did you even go home" asks Jin, a little concerned.

Jungkook runs his long fingers through his brown locks, slumping in a chair. "Our project is due soon" he says. Jin wipes up the last of the water on the table, putting the rag back into the bin.

"Can we go to your place?" asks Jungkook, clearing his throat. Jin hesitates for a moment. His living conditions aren't the best right now. His mom had finally had enough of the abuse and she was in the process of kicking his father out, much to the older man's dismay. Jin is honest with Jungkook.

"My place isn't the best option right now. Can we go to yours?"

Jungkook shrugs his shoulders. "I guess."

Jin was surprised at the younger's response. No snarky comment or insult. It was progress. After locking up the clubroom, the two boys started to Jungkook's house.

*******

They traveled by train. The ride was silence for the most part. Jin couldn't help but admire Jungkook's presence. He enjoyed the little sounds and the movements and white noise just as much as he did. He was a peaceful sight to look at. After a little whiles walk, they had finally reached Jungkook's one story home. All of the lights were off which meant that his mom was already at work. Jungkook fumbled with the keys, it was too dark to properly see what he was doing.

Jin reached for his back pocket, pulling out his cellphone. He turned on the flashlight, giving Jungkook some light. The younger had finally managed to unlock the door, opening it. He let Jin walk in first, following behind him. He turned on the kitchen light, throwing his book bag onto the couch.

"Want anything?" He asks, looking through the fridge.

"I'm good" Jin answers, taking a seat in one of the chairs placed at the dinner table. Jungkook had returned to the table, placing a bottle of water and leftovers on the surface. Jungkook started to tear through the leftovers.

"Where's your mom?" asks Jin.

"Working."

"Oh."

Jin looked around. The home was cozy. Not too big, something that Jin had never had the pleasure of experiencing. The walls were a sky blue color. Little hand prints decorated various parts of each wall. Jin points to a section. "Whose hand prints?"

Jungkook, mouth stuffed with food, looks up in the direction in which Jin is pointing. He smiles to himself, swallowing the rest of his food. "When we first moved in I was a toddler. My mom hated the bland colors of the place so she had me help her paint it and yeah" he chuckles. "I'm assuming you can figure out the rest."

"That's cute" Jin says quietly, absent minded, without thinking. He clears his throat. "Does she work a lot?"

"Not as much as she used to but she does have those busy weeks."

Jin starts jotting down more notes.

"What's your mom like?" Jungkook asks unexpectedly. He had finished his food and placed the dishes into the sink. Jin wondered why he wasn't writing down notes too. Was he gonna remember all of this?

"She's great. A strong woman. I admire her. But.." he trails off. Jin isn't looking at the younger directly but he can tell he's staring at him. "My dad. He.."

"Don't talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable" says Jungkook, patting his hyung's shoulder for comfort.

"My dad abuses her."

Silence.

_"He's gonna judge me. Maybe? Maybe. I hope he doesn't. I don't want him to pity me."_

"I'm sorry" the younger finally responds.

"Don't be."

"I have family issues too. Somewhat. I have no room to judge. But if your mom is as strong as you say and if she's anything like you," the younger subtly smiles at Jin. "She'll be okay."

The older caught the smile, returning the gesture. He didn't want to pry in Jungkook's personal life but he decided to ask anyway. "What kind of issues?"

"My brother." Jungkook sighs at the thought of what his younger brother might be doing at this moment. He hopes he's safe. "It didn't start until recently but he's been coming home late. Sometimes with cuts or bruises."

"I see" Jin responds, not sure on how to respond in fear he might say something insensitive.

"Have you asked him about it?"

"No. I don't wanna make it worse by getting into his business. And my mom doesn't know. She already has enough to worry about."

Jin nods his head in understanding.

Almost as if he was summoned, Jungkook's younger brother slowly walks through the now opened front door. He closes it quietly, putting the spare keys on the coffee table located next to the door.

"Hyun" Jungkook calls, trying to get his attention. He's wearing grey sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. The hood is over his head, covering up most of his face. He nods his head, acknowledging his older brother. He starts towards his room before being stopped by Jungkook, who's now standing in the way of the hallway.

"How was your day?" Jungkook asks, trying to make conversation with the younger.

"Good."

"Got any homework?"

"No."

Jungkook glares at him. His brother refuses to make eye contact, which bothers the older. "Why do you still have this on? Is it that cold in here?" he says jokingly, reaching for the hood of the hoodie.

Hyun slaps his hand away, now agitated. Inpatient.

"I wanna take a nap, Kook" he says codly.

Jungkook's now irritated. "Is there something going on that you're not telling me? I'm honestly really worried about you."

"No one told you to worry about me" Hyun says, trying to push through his older brother.

Jungkook reaches for his hood again despite protests from the younger, yanking it off only to be met with dozens of cuts and a few bruises stained on his face.

"Hyun" Jungkook says sternly. "What's going on with you?"

The younger doesn't answer. He had long since known that Jin was present, despite the fact that Jungkook might have been too engrossed in worrying about his brother to care about his friend looking on, worried with the current situation.

Jungkook was frustrated. Scared for his brother. But if wasn't gonna open up then Jungkook wasn't gonna be the one to force him.

His voice cracks as he speaks. "I'm always here for you, Hyun. Please remember that."

Hyun looks up, staring at his brother. They don't speak for a bit but then again, they don't need to.

"Okay" Hyun responds. "Can I go to my room now?"

Jungkook steps aside to let Hyun through. The younger is now pulling off his hoodie and shuts his bedroom door behind him.

"I won't tell mom anything!" Jungkook says. "Not yet, at least" he murmurs. He returns to his seat, sighing loudly.

"I'm sorry. I probably should have left" Jin says, looking down.

Jungkook smiles, taking another sip of water. "You're good. But I'm tired of working. Wanna play video games?"

"You should really start prying more" Jin mutters.

Jungkook gives him a questionable look, unsure of what his hyung means. Jin's looking up again, directly at Jungkook.

"I know that you don't want him to hate you because you didn't mind your business but I'd rather have my brother hate me than to have something happen to him. If I were you, at least."

Jungkook is silent. He had never had the time to think of it that way. He'd rather Hyun resent him than to lose him because he didn't intervene. Jungkook was the big brother. He needed to start acting like one. But he'd save that conversation for another day.

"I'll take you up on that offer of playing video games though" Jin says, smirking at him.

"Fortnite?" asks Jungkook, no longer having thoughts weigh heavily on his conscious.

Jin hops out of his seat, visibly excited.

  
"Where's your controllers?"

✰✩✰

**a**   **new friendship begins**

**hope you have a good day/night and eat and rest well**

**from here on out chapters will be longer. 2000-3000+ words max. you ready?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are you?


	13. twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it let me add the images, let's get it

 

Jimin and Mark had been hanging out a lot lately. And not just for the project anymore. Despite the dynamics in their personalities they got along better than they thought. Even the Bangtan crew started to take notice in the new found friendship.

"Pass me the ketchup" Yoongi demands. Jimin obeys, reaching behind him to rummidge in Hoseok's bag for his personal ketchup bottle.

"Why does he have this again?" Jimin asks, handing his hyung the bottle.

"Can't trust this school. They might poison us" Hoseok answers, approaching and taking a seat next to Jimin, placing his lunch tray on the table. They were at lunch, if you couldn't tell. Jimin shrugs.

"I guess."

"Where's everyone else?" Yoongi asks, squeezing the ketchup onto his fries.

Hoseok thinks for a moment before having a sudden thought. "Jin's with Jisoo. Namjoon and Taehyung are going around plastering flyers-"

"Flyers? For what?" Yoongi asks.

"For the Halloween Ball" Jimin cuts in.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already?" Hoseok says, biting into a fry.

Yoongi makes a tsk sound, taking a sip of water. "I just didn't think every one was actually serious about this."

"Is the new girl throwing you off?" Hoseok asks, a cheeky grin on his face. Yoongi throws a napkin at the younger, letting a scoff escape his lips.

"Never. But," He sits back, crossing his legs. "Jin _does_ spend a lot of time with her nowadays." The boys grimace at what the older is implying.

"Jin hyung already said they're not together" Jimin says.

"Speaking of people spending a lot of time together" Hoseok starts, that childish grin sitting ever so evident on his face. He turns to face Jimin, placing his arm on the other's chair. Jimin bites the inside of his cheek, predicting what's next.

"I already know what you're gonna say and I'm gonna stop you right there." The younger crosses his arms.

"What was I gonna say, Chim?"

"You're gonna start picking at me about how much time I've been spending with Mark and I'm telling you now that nothing is going on between us."

"Don't think he swings that way anyways" says Yoongi, biting into his burger. Jimin doesn't try to hide the bit of hurt he feels at the older's remark.

Hoseok wraps his arms around him, allowing Jimin to lay his head against his chest. He no longer had any appetite. Hoseok rests his chin on the younger's fluffy blonde hair. "Yoongi!" Hoseok hisses.

Yoongi looks up from his food in surprise. "What? What did I say?". Yoongi didn't mean any harm from his comment. He usually just comes off as insensitive most times and he tries to work on that. He didn't intentionally mean to hurt Jimin.

"Jimin" he coos.

"You like him, don't you?" Hoseok asks, tracing patterns on the younger's back.

"I don't wanna talk about this here" Jimin responds quietly. Yoongi nods his head in understanding. "I'm sorry" he says.  
"You wanna go to the clubroom?" asks Hoseok. Jimin nods, no longer leaning against the red head's chest. He gets up, throwing his trash into the garbage.

"Let's go."

*******

Yoongi and Hoseok sat in their chairs, facing Jimin. The younger was looking down, playing with his hands.

"Just tell us how you feel about him" says Yoongi, looking at his best friend with endearment.

"I..." the younger trails off but then regains his composure. "I like him. I like him a lot. I knew I was gonna fall for him that first day we started working on our project. The more I got to know about him the more I started falling. But I knew I wasn't gonna be able to handle the feeling of rejection so I ignored my feelings."

"That's never a good thing to do, Chim" Hoseok says, looking at the blonde haired boy worridly.

"I know" he says, his voice reaching a new pitch. "But what am I supposed to do? 'Oh Mark, I have feelings for you even though you're not gay or anything, like me back?' ". The younger laughed bitterly. "Like hell I'd ever do that."

Yoongi sighs, scooting closer to cup his hands over Jimin's. "Don't take what I said to heart, kid. No one knows if he's actually straight or not."

Of course Jimin thought of that possibility but despite knowing Mark for just a little over a month, he couldn't possibly be gay. And the fact that he's crushing on a boy that he can't have pains him.

"Hey" Hoseok says, rubbing Jimin's back to calm him. The blonde haired boy's eyes now glossed with on coming tears. "Ask him to join our club." Jimin's eyes shoot up, glaring at the older.

"What?"

"Get to know him more. Beyond the stupid project."

Yoongi chimes in. "Only if you want to, though."

Jimin contemplates the offer. "I know you guys aren't very open to newcomers...."

"We don't care. We get along with him already. But above anything else, if it makes you happy then we'll welcome him with open arms." Hoseok says.

Jimin can't help it any longer when streams of tears trail down his soft cheeks. Both Hoseok and Yoongi welcome the younger into their arms, caressing him gently.

"Thank you" he whispers.

"No problem" Hoseok responds. He feels happy knowing that Jimin could open up to him about feelings like these. But it made him feel bad for joking around about it earlier.

Suddendly, the door opens, interrupting the touching moment. In walks an unaware Jungkook, putting flyers onto the table. It takes him a moment but he finally notices the three boys staring at him.

"Um" He looks around. "Did I miss anything?"

Jimin giggles, wiping away his tears.

"You could say that."

Jungkook was worried now. "You were crying. Why were you crying?" He walks over, bending down to be eye to eye to Jimin.

"There's some things I have to tell the rest of the group" Jimin responds.

Just then Jimin's phone buzzes. He takes it out of his pocket, his friends looking on intensively.

 **Mark <3**: im done putting up flyers but theres some more left over. can i drop them off at the club room?

 **Me** : yea, ill be here

 **Mark <3**: good, cause i miss u ;)

Jimin couldn't help but smile.

He locked his phone, placing back into his pocket.

"What were you smiling at?" asks Hoseok, looking hard at Jimin's pocket.

Jimin digs into his pocket, taking out his phone and showing it to his friends.

They all analyze the messages before looking at each other.

"He's not straight" the boys says in unison.

  
*******

 

Jin had agreed to let Jisoo tag along to pick out Halloween decorations despite him being the one who was going to pay for everything. Jisoo followed behind him like a lost puppy, looking over his shoulder every few seconds. He stops abruptly, Jisoo knocking into him.

She rubs her forehead. "Hey!" she says.

"That's what you get for being so close" Jin responds, scanning the shelves for pumpkin cut-outs.

"Are you sure we're allowed to skip school like this?" she asks, tilting her head slightly to get a glimpse of the boy's face.

"We aren't skipping." Jin reaches for the top shelf. "It's a free period after lunch."

She questions his reasoning but ultimately decides to trust him.

Suddenly a box of cut-outs is falling off the shelf and the next thing Jisoo sees is Jin towering over her, taking a hit to the top of his head.

"Shit." He had his arms by instict wrapped around her small figure.

Jisoo didn't know how to respond. Nor did she know how to ignore the warm feeling in the pit of her stomach or the fast heart beats that hit against her chest. She couldn't help but blush at the contact, looking up to look at Jin's face. He wasn't paying attention. His eyes were closed and he was rubbing the spot where the box had fell on.

"Jin-"

"Help me pick these up please" he says, leaning down to pick up the cut-outs. She does as he says, also bending down to help.

"That looked like it hurt" she says quietly.

He chuckles. "It's a box of cut-outs. I'll live."

She can't help but feel guilty for not paying attention.

"If it's just a box then why didn't you let it fall on me?"

"I saw it fall. You weren't paying attention. I wasn't about to let it fall on you, I'm not that much of an ass."

She blushed at his words. Did Jin actually care about her?

She reaches for a cut-out that was still on Jin's head. At that same time, Jin was reaching for it, their hands now touching slightly. Now they're staring at each other.

Jisoo couldn't help but drown in Jin's dark brown eyes. She couldn't read them. They had been there, on the ground. Pumpkin cut-outs on the floor. His voice was barely getting through to Jisoo when he speaks again.

"Cute."

"I'm sorry?" She could have sworn she heard the word _cute_.

Jin scrambles to his feet, taking the cut-outs with him. Jisoo is also on her feet, flustered at the sudden compliment. Was it a compliment?

Jin laughs nervously. "Nothing. But here, take these." He hands her a handful of cut-outs.

"You looked dumb with that cut-out on your head" she says, cluching the cut-outs. Jin can't help but blush at the comment, turning in the other direction. "I'm gonna go pay for this stuff" he mutters, walking away.

Jisoo promised herself. She promised Jennie. She told herself that she was going to get over her feelings for the boy.

_Promises are made to be broken._

But she already told Jin that she just wanted to be friends.

_But the way he looked at me._

Her heart was beating twenty times a second.

_"Are you in love with him?"_

_"No. I'm not, Jennie."_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

But why did Jennie care so much anyway? It was Jisoo's love life, not hers.

_"Promises were made to be broken."_

*******

Jimin had texted Jin asking if Mark could join the club despite already telling Mark that he could. He wanted to wait for Jin to return but had decided on telling the rest of the group.

Mark had already come and left, dropping off leftover flyers. Jimin had taken them from him, giving the boy an awkward smile. Mark was totally oblivious to Jimin's feelings and maybe, just maybe, he liked it that way.

Everyone sat in a circle, Jimin placed in the middle. He looked around nervously, playing with his fingers.

"What's this about?" asks Namjoon, looking quite nervous himself.

"Jeez Joon, you aren't even the one giving the news and you look like you're about to cry" says Jungkook jokingly.

"You know how nervous I get about these things" Namjoon responds defensively.

"Did you get your phone fixed?" asks Yoongi.

"Off topic" Taehyung cuts in.

"Go on, Jimin" Hoseok says.

The blonde boy hesitates. He looks at Yoongi and Hoseok, hoping that their looks will assure him. Then he speaks.

"I like Mark. Like, _like_ like him. And I'm scared."

There's a few seconds of silence.

Namjoon releases a breath that he hasn't realize he had been holding.

"How long has it been?" asks Jungkook.

"Maybe a week or two after we started the project."

Taehyung hops up from his seat, running over to hug Jimin tightly.

"Tae?" Jimin returns the hug cautiously.

"I'm happy for you" Taehyung says.

The other boys give each other glances. Jimin catches notice of it. "What?"

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" asks Jungkook. After what happened between Jimin and Hyungwon, he was worried for him. He was worried for his heart.

"I know what you're thinking but even if I were to miraculously date Mark, what does..." Jimin isn't sure if he wants to say his name. Yoongi says it for him.

"What does Hyungwon gotta do with it?"

Namjoon chimes in. "I'm with Kook on this one, we don't want you to get hurt again, Jimin."

Jimin scoffs. "Hyungwon isn't the only person I've been with, get over yourselves."

"But he's the only one you've ever loved" Jungkook says.

The room falls silent again. Jimin takes in the words spoken by the younger. Jimin loved Hyungwon at some point. He was in love with the man. But that same man left scars on his heart that would probably never heal.

"Mark isn't Hyungwon."

Jin had gottem back from the store ages ago and made his way to the club room. He overheard the conversation but didn't want to interrupt or cause things to become awkward so he stood on the other side, ear to the door. Listening. He felt guilty for listening on to the private discussion but he was worried about Jimin. He cared about him.

Everyone turns to see Jin. Casually leaning against the entrance of the door, sighing loudly. Jimin rises from his seat, walking over to cling to Jin's arm with pleading eyes.

"Please don't tell him."

Jin pulls the younger in for a very needed hug. He ruffles his hair slightly, smiling into the blonde locks. "I won't."

Jimin pulls away, a satisfied smile spread across his face. His cheeks were red and so was the tip of his nose. He was on the verge of tears.

"Is your best friend into guys by any chance?" asks Hoseok.

Jin tilts his head, thinking for a moment. He still had Jimin attached to him at the hip. "I dunno. That's something we've never talked about."

The boys groan in unison.

"How the hell have you two been friends since childhood and not know at least that?" Yoongi asks, slouching into his chair. This discussion was cutting into his nap time.

The older shrugs his shoulders, then looks down to take a glimpse at the boy still attached to him.

"Wish you could have told me sooner. I would've helped."

"To be fair, I didn't know you well enough."

Jin chuckles. Jimin lets go of him, looking away.

"Are you sure he isn't just another Hyungwon?" he mutters.

"I don't know who this Hyungwon person is but I can assure you that Mark would never try to hurt you, let alone intentionally."

Jimin's ears perk up at the good news, far too indulged in the sudden excitement to hear Taehyung's offer.

"Let's go to an arcade."

Now everyone's attention was on Taehyung.

"I'm getting real tired of your bright ideas" says Jungkook.

"Hear me out, it's a good one."

"Let's just get this over with so I can sleep" Yoongi says, pouting.

"We all go to an arcade. Jimin can bring Mark-"

Jimin shakes his head in disagreement.

"No. Nope. We're not doing this. I'm not about to let you be my match maker."

Taehyung sighs, leaning back into his chair. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "No match making. We're gonna go just to go. Just for _fun_."

Taehyung was saying one thing but Jimin could tell. His eyes said another and there was an ulterior motive behind this get together. But there was no turning it down, since all of his best friends, including Jin, agreed that it was a great idea. Jin even said it would be a great club experience.

"Can I invite Jisoo?" Jin asks, throwing off the others.

"Uh," Taehyung scratches the back of his head. "Sure. If Yoongi's cool with it."

"I don't care about what Yoongi thinks" Jin responds, smirking.

Yoongi huffs. "Good for you. I personally don't care what she does, like I said before."

"So," Taehyung rises from his seat, observing his companions that sat before him. "Is it a plan?"

Everyone agrees. Jimin sighs. Just what has he gotten himself into?

  
✰✩✰

**in honor of jin's birthday, here's a new chapter. happy birthday jin, i love u so much, i hope it's a good one**

**i hope all that read my book and vote, eat and sleep well. i can never thank you enough for supporting me and my writing**

**love, kruu**

    


	14. thirteen

 

 

**__ **

 

**_Jimin's POV_ **

 

I woke up to the sound of rain. It wasn't pouring down, it was a light rain. Soothing patters of drops hitting the ceiling. I went to bed late last night, not being able to sleep. I had something on my mind. That being Mark Tuan.

I really didn't like the idea of going to an arcade with everyone, including Mark. It would have been fine if we were going just to hang out but that wasn't the case. And liking Mark just made it ten times harder to be around him. I get nervous whenever we're in the same room now.

I decided not to dwell on the thought anymore, rising from my bed, throwing the sheets to the side.

_"I'm gonna take a shower."_

I dug through my closet to look for something comfortable to wear. According to the clock it was 1:30 p.m. and I ended up sleeping in pretty late despite the lack of being able to the night before. I wasn't expected to be at the arcade until 4:30.

After finally finding something, I swung the clothes onto my shoulder, making my way to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me, putting my clothes on the toilet seat. I turned on the warm water, taking in the warmth that started to fill the bathroom.

I looked at myself in the mirror before taking off all of my clothes, a naked reflection now facing me.

_I'm gonna be in here for awhile._

I stepped into the steaming shower, my back facing the water as it trickles down my back. I feel around the upper part of my body, letting my fingers gently run along my neck. I didn't realize how much built up tension weighed on my body. I run my fingers through my hair, stepping back a little further so the steaming water could run through my hair.

I was suddenly lost in thought. Spacing out to memories. Memories of him.

_It was early on in the month, when the projects were first assigned._

_"Can you hand me that pencil?" Mark gestured towards the pencil that sat on the floor next to Jimin's chair. Mark had invited Jimin over to his place to work on their project. Mark lived alone so Jimin couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, the reason why being unknown to him at the time. He was also being very distant, the reason why, again, being unknown to him._

_"Yeah, I got it" Jimin responds, reaching over to grab the pencil. He tosses it to Mark, who catches it with ease. Jimin leans into his chair, tapping his left foot nervously. Each boy is paying attention to their paper, not realizing that in order to actually finish they'll have to communicate._

_Mark clears the air, breaking the silence._

_"How's Jin?"_

_Jimin looks up from his paper, avoiding the boys eyes. "You're his best friend, aren't you?"_

_"Yeah.." Mark says quietly, still skimming through his paper._

_"But" he starts but doesn't finish._

_Jimin suddenly realizes how his last comment came off, trying his best to recover. "Oh, no. I'm sorry, that came out wrong."_

_Mark looks up from his paper, looking directly into Jimin's eyes, which are still trained on Mark's collarbone. Jimin is usually the social butterfly, friendly with every one but he couldn't figure out why he was so nervous or why there was this strong butterfly feeling in the pit of his stomach. It bothered him._

_"I was just asking because he hangs around you guys a lot now" says Mark, snapping Jimin out of his trance as his eyes connect with Mark's. He had been staring at Mark's collarbone for an unusually long time._

_"He's improving. Jungkook and him butt heads every now and then but it's getting better" Jimin says._

_"What's Jungkook's problem?" asks Mark, a little agitated with the sudden mention of the boy's name._

_He suddenly corrects himself. "Well, what_ was _his problem?_ _In the beginning."_

_Jimin furrows his eyebrows, crossing his arms, irritated with Mark's reaction to his best friend_. _"What's with the reaction?" He retorts._

_"What are you talking about?" Mark responds, placing his notebook and pencil on to the night stand located next to his bed. He adjusts himself, his legs and feet hanging off of the side of the bed while resting his head on the surface._

_"You sounded kind of irritated a second ago, that's all" Jimin says, finally relaxing a little._

_Mark sighs, closing his eyes. "I don't hate Jungkook or anything, it's just that he's treated Jin like shit for no reason. Like, I get that he can be an ass a lot of times but he's a good guy and Jungkook didn't even wanna give him the time of day."_

_Jimin nods his head in agreement, placing his notebook and pencil on the desk behind him. "Mind if I lay next to you? This chair is killing my back."_

_"Sure" Mark says, scooting over to make room for Jimin._

_Jimin rises from his chair, stretching in the process. He waddles over, plopping himself on to the bed face first. Mark let the boy bask in the glory of his soft sheets which smelt like they had been freshly washed. He couldn't help but stare. The whole thing was just too cute. From the way Jimin's cheeks puffed as they were being squished against the matress, to the way his messy hair sat on his head, tempting Mark to run his hand through the blonde locks. Mark couldn't help the sudden fast pace beating of his heart, watching Jimin's eyes turn into crescent moons._

_"Ah" Jimin coos, finally making himself comfortable. The nerves that had coursed through his body had long since disappeared._

_"Having fun?" Mark asks jokingly, earning a flick on the side of his body from Jimin. You couldn't see all of his face, being that half of it was being covered by the white blankets but you could tell he was smiling. It made Mark blush, causing him to turn in the other direction._

_"Does it get lonely?" Jimin asks quietly._

_"Hm?" Mark says, slowly drifting into slumber._

_"Living here. Alone."_

_Mark opens his eyes again, turning slightly to face Jimin, who's eyes were closed, face buried into the sheets._

_"Sometimes."_

_Jimin hums in response, now he was drifting to sleep._

_Mark reaches over, brushing a lock of blonde hair out of Jimin's eye._

_It was getting late, the sun had already set and stars had started to twinkle in the night sky. Then it started to snow despite it not being reported in the forecast this morning. It was a light snow and the first snow of the season. The apartment was quiet, only Jimin's soft breathing could be heard._

_"I wouldn't mind having a roommate though...if it was you" Mark says softly. He hadn't realized that Jimin had already fallen asleep, not hearing a single word._

"Jimin! Park Jimin!"

I had been completely lost in thought, not realizing that my mom had been knocking on the door for five minutes.

"Jimin I'm coming in."

"Mom wait!" I say frantically, remembering that I forgot to lock the door.

My mom was never the one to listen and is often stubborn. She quickly opens the door, looking around the room quickly with a pot in her hand, raised in the air.

I already turned the water off, trying my best to cover myself with the shower curtain, peeping my head out.

"Are you okay?" My mom asks.

"Don't look straight at me please" I beg, my face red with embarrassment.

She lowers her arm, putting her hands on her hips with the pot still in hand. "Next time answer me the first time I knock."

I nod.

"I know you're gonna be out late," she starts, walking around the bathroom to pick up dirty laundry. "Is this yours?" She asks, holding out a pair of my dirty boxers.

"Yes" I say quickly, looking away. She chuckles lightly, tossing it into a bin. "I gave birth to you, Jimin. I raised you. I know everything about you and every _part_ of you. No need to be embarrassed."

"What were you saying about me being out late?" I ask, changing the subject. She walks back towards the door, dragging the bin along with her. "I know you're gonna be out late so bring an umbrella. It's stopped raining now but there's a good chance it'll rain again tonight."

"Okay."

She smiles at me, slowly closing the door. I sigh of relief, getting out of the shower.

*******

Jin and Jungkook stood outside of the arcade. It was almost 4:30 but Jin had come over to Jungkook's to finish their project and play Fornite and decided to head to the arcade together. As they were leaving Jungkook asked his brother if he wanted to come, only to have his request denied. The older had had what Jin told him that day on his mind quite often and would soon act upon it.

The boys had been standing there for about two minutes when Taehyung and Namjoon walked up.

"Have we been keeping you waiting, ladies?" Namjoon says jokingly, Jungkook punching his arm playfully.

"Yes. You have" Jin says sternly. He checks his watch. "You were supposed to be here at 4:30," He checks it again. "It is now 4:34."

"You could have just waited inside" Taehyung says, brushing past the older. Jin sighs, following behind Taehyung. Then Jungkook, then Namjoon.

As the boys walk inside they notice that the building is empty and are all but surprised, except Jin.

"The fuck?" Yoongi says, entering the building and standing next to Jungkook. The boys were so surprised that they didn't realize that Yoongi was behind them.

"Yoongi" Taehyung hisses.

"Sorry. You know fuck is apart of my daily vocabulary."

Taehyung hits him lightly, emitting a chuckle from the older boy.

"Why is the building empty?" Asks Namjoon, a little worried that it might be closed and they were actually trespassing.

Jin walks in front, turning to face the group. "I rented out the arcade."

"You what?" Hoseok says, now walking into the building with Mark right behind.

"Where's Jimin and Jisoo?" asks Jin, looking through the band of boys for the two.

"He's outside" says Mark, now also observing the arcade, wondering why it's empty. Jin starts towards the door, nudging through the group. He's met with cold air as he opens the door and then looks to the side to find Jimin, standing there, visibly nervous.

He walks over slowly, parting his arms like he's waiting for a hug. Jimin quickly and willingly walks into his arms, clinging onto him.

"How'd you know?" says the younger, face buried in Jin's chest.

"You just seemed like you needed a hug. Come inside, yea? I've got a surprise."

Jimin sniffles, the coldness in the air getting to him. He looks up, locking eyes with Jin. "What if I screw things up with Mark? What if he doesn't like me? What if-"

"Hey," Jin pats his head softly.

"Hyung.." Jimin says quietly, looking down again.

"Nothing is set in stone, right? We're here to have fun so don't stress about it."

Jimin grumbles, unsatisfied with the advice.

Jin pats his back, letting Jimin uncling from him. "What's the surprise?" Jimin asks, looking in the direction of the entrance.

"You'll see" the older says with a smile. Suddenly he feels a poke in his back and quickly turns around to be greeted by a short girl with long, black hair and pink glossed lips. The girl was Jisoo. Jimin moves in closer, looking over his hyung's shoulder for a better view.

"Oh, it's your girlfr...I mean friend. It's your friend." Jimin chuckles nervously then gives Jin a wink. The older catches it with his peripheral vision but the younger slips away before he can say anything. Jimin walks into the entry way and is suddenly stopped by Mark, who had a grip on his arm.

"Are you okay?" Mark asks, looking at Jimin with concern.

Jimin gives him a warm smile. "Yeah, thanks for asking."

He starts to walk away when Mark reaches out for his arm once again. "Jimin I..."

Jimin turns to face him, now giving Mark a concerned look. He moves in closer, leaving enough distance between them. "Mark?"

"Is it me? Am I doing something to make you nervous?" The brown haired boy blurts.

The entrance way that led to the main area of the arcade was dimly lit, making it hard for Jimin to make out Mark's features but he could see his eyes, glossed with on coming tears. Jimin quickly moves in, hugging Mark. Mark was taller than him so his face automatically buried into his chest.

"Mark.."

"When Hobi and I got here and I saw you by the entrance, I desperately wanted to go over there and talk to you" Mark said quietly.

Jimin chuckled lightly at the nickname for Hoseok.

"And then when Jin left us in the arcade to go talk to you I followed him. I couldn't hear what you both were saying but.."

Jimin rubbed his back, not saying anything. All he wanted to do at that moment was to comfort his friend, and let him know that everything was okay.

"Jimin, the way he held you...I wanted that to be me so bad."

Jimin's heart skipped a beat, and his voice cracked as a high pitched "Huh?" left his lips. Mark rested his chin on Jimin's blonde locks, holding onto the boy for dear life.

"The way he comforted you, I wanted that to be me. I wanted to be the one to run my fingers through your hair and to tell you that whatever it was that was bothering you didn't mean anything because you'd get through it."

"R-Really?" Jimin responds.

"Yes. And I still want to do all of those things."

"Mark I-"

_"Jimin-ah, I want to kiss you."_

It's as if time had stopped moving at that point. It was only Mark and Jimin in this very moment. Jimin couldn't believe his own ears. Was Mark confessing?

Mark gently pushed Jimin by his shoulders, leaving only a centimeter of distance between them. He rested his forehead onto Jimin's, tilting his face up by his chin, forcing the boy to lock eyes with him.

"Jimin I like you."

Neither boy realized that Jisoo and Jin had long since finished their conversation. They hid far down the hallway, peaking around the corner, looking on at the sight of Jimin and Mark together.

"Did Mark just confess to Jimin?" Jin whispered.

"Shh!" Jisoo said, looking intensively. 

"Are you _fangirling_?" Jin asked, almost laughing.

Jisoo whipped her head around, pinching his cheek. He rubbed it, pouting at her.

Jimin didn't know what to do or how to react. He felt nervous, but also safe in Mark's hold. He had so much that he wanted to say, but then didn't know what to say at all. The boy that he had somehow fallen for was confessing to him and more than anything, he felt overjoyed. He stood there, looking into Mark's determined eyes. He was determined to get something. _He wanted Jimin._

Jimin cupped his cheeks, smiling softly. He saw himself at one point in Mark. The scene reminding him all too well of Hyungwon. Then fear started to creep in.

_Hyungwon._

His smile turned into a frown, and his overjoyed feeling turned into worry. He quickly pulled away, catching Mark off guard. 

"Jimin?" Mark called to him, moving in closer.

"Stay right there." he said, his voice noticeably shaky. Mark didn't move any futher, respecting Jimin's wishes.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Jisoo gasps a little louder than needed, she covered her mouth quickly. Jin tried to maneuver himself around Jisoo, he couldn't see what was going on.

"Jisoo can you _please_ move your damn head?" 

"Shush!" she told him. He groaned in response.

"You didn't do anything." Jimin said quietly, looking at his feet.

"Then what's wrong?" Mark's voice cracked. "You say it's nothing and yet you've been acting so different towards me lately. Like you don't want to be around me."

"That's not it!"Jimin shouts, now meeting eyes with Mark.

"I just fucking confessed to you, Jimin. And now you're pushing me away." Mark laughs bitterly, now starting to walk past Jimin. "The guys are probably waiting for us, I'll see you in there."

Jimin stood there. Tears had started to swell up in his eyes and his knuckles had turned white as he clenched them tightly. He turned, quickly walking towards Mark. He wrapped his arms around him, hugging him from behind. Mark turned, looking down at Jimin. 

"Jimin-"

Jimin held onto his shirt, leaning into him.

"I like you too."

A lone tear fell down his cheek as he took Mark by his chin, kissing him gently. Mark snaked his arm around Jimin, pulling him in more. He returned the kiss, cupping Jimin's cheek with his other hand. At first it was just that, a kiss. It was Jimin placing his lips on Mark and leaving them there. Then it turned into passion. Want. Need.

Now it was Jin's turn to gasp. He covered his eyes.

"Why are you covering your eyes, silly?" Jisoo asked, giggling at him.

"This is such an intimate moment, I would feel bad for watching."

Jin couldn't see it but Jisoo was smiling widely at him. _"So cute."_

Mark ran his fingers through Jimin's blonde looks whilst kissing him with so much care and sensitivity. Jimin reached up, wrapping both of his arms around Mark's neck. He pulled away as Mark started traveling from his lips down the crook of his chin and then to his neck, leaving soft kisses. 

"Mark." Jimin said softly, taking the boy's face in his hands and lifting it up. Jimin's hair was a mess from Mark running his hand through it, and his lips were pink a swollen. Mark admired the sight. This was because of him, and he liked it.

"Let's go inside now." Jimin said, smiling.

"Will we talk about it? About us?"

Jimin's eyes turned into crescent moons. He pinched Mark's cheeks. "Of course."

"Oh my god." Jisoo squealed. She hadn't realized how loud she was until it was too late.

"Well now you've done it." Jin says, sighing.

Mark and Jimin turn around and are met with Jisoo and Jin who had come from behind the corner. The jig was up.

"Um, hi!" Jisoo says while rubbing her neck, laughing nervously.

"Did you see all of that?" Mark asks, his face turning red with embarrassment. 

"Well, yeah." Jin answers.

Suddenly, Hoseok is walking out of the arcade, now walking into the scene.

"It's been twenty minutes. What is going on out here?"

Jin and Jisoo take the opportunity, running through the doors on the other side of Mark and Jimin and into the arcade. 

Mark entangles his fingers with Jimin. Jimin's hands were so small compared to Mark's and he found it adorable. Jimin blushes but doesn't pull away.

Hoseok notices, confusion spread across his face. 

"Are you two..You know what, we'll talk about it later." Hoseok runs his fingers through his hair, turning around and heading back into the arcade. 

Mark pulls Jimin along and the two boys head into the arcade to meet with their friends. Hand in hand.

✰✩✰

**double update cause:**

**1\. jin's bday, so why not**   
**2\. i really love this chapter, it's probably the best one ive written so far and i wanted yall to read it right away cause im impatient**   
**3\. this is the last prewritten chapter i have, so basically im forcing myself to write some more cause ive been lazy**

**please have a good day and eat and rest well. until next time, space cowboys**

**love, kruu**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yea, this is the last prewritten chapter which means updates might be a little slow from here on out for a bit. i double updated on wattpad yesterday so im doing it here too. sick, right? don't worry, there will come a day where you don't have to worry about my long author's notes lol


	15. fourteen

 

 

 

"Jennie?"

Rose taps her best friend's shoulder lightly.

Jennie mumbles some incoherent words before turning over and resting her head into the little space in front of her arms that were placed on the desk. 

Rose sighs and takes another shot at waking up Jennie, shaking her gently.

"Jennieeeee."

A groan escapes from Jennie's lips.

Rose bites the inside of her cheek and then turns and leans down to access her book bag that laid against her chair. The sounds of unzipping pulls Jennie back into reality. Her head shoots up from the desk.

"I'm awake! Please don't hit me" the raven haired girl says, her arms covering herself in a defensive way.  

The cherry colored hair girl smiles, zipping up her book bag. "I know you were, you faker." She pinches Jennie's arm.

"Ow!" Jennie rubs her arm, pouting at Rose. "That was unnecessary." 

Jennie takes a quick glance around the classroom before turning back to face her friend. A look of confusion is evident on her face. The room was empty and Jisoo wasn't siting behind them.

"Where's Ji?"

"The entire classroom is empty yet the only person you're concerned about is Jisoo" Rose says, putting her elbow on the desk and placing her cheek in her palm. Jennie crosses her arms, leaning back in her chair so that it slightly lifts off of the floor. 

"Are you gonna answer my question?"

"Jin came by and got her. They went to have lunch together."

The chair is now back on the ground with a hard thud and Jennie's hands are on the front part of the desk. "What?"

"Don't get too excited now" Rose says sarcastically while getting up from her seat. Jennie's eyes follow her movements. 

Jennie was undeniably jealous. She had always gone to lunch with her friends for as long as she had known them. And it was that way even when they got to high school. Sure it may seem like such a small thing but it was tradition for them. And Jisoo broke that tradition, and over a boy at that. But she couldn't help that there was more to her jealousy than breaking a tradition. Jisoo had been spending more time with Jin lately and they were awfully close in such a short time period. 

"Why did she go?" Jennie suddenly asks. Rose laughs, leaning against the desk.

"What do you mean  _why_? Because she wanted to."

"But she always eats with us." You could hear the disappointment in Jennie's voice. 

Rose sighs, closing her eyes and titling her head upwards. "Yeah, well. Things change. I don't think it's that big of a deal, this is her dream after all."

"Huh?"

Rose turns her head to face the raven haired girl and opens her eyes. "I think we all know that Jisoo is still head over heels for that boy."

Jennie's heart drops at the sentence. She places her hands between her thighs, staring at the lower half of her body and not daring to give Rose a glance.  _"But she promised."_  Jennie thought. Why would her best friend make a promise to her that she can't keep? But Jennie knew she sounded ridiculous. She can't keep her friend from falling for someone else and she can't get mad at her for it either but she can't help it.  _"Why won't she fall for me?"_

Rose taps the desk with her index finger. "Are you upset?"

Jennie feels her face heat up and quickly covers her cheeks. "No." She lies. 

Suddenly a blonde haired Lisa is busting into the classroom, drenched in sweat with a ponytail draped over her shoulder. "I'm free. I'm free from that hell."

"How was gym class?" Rose asks, looking at Lisa amusingly. 

"Did you not just hear me call it hell?" Lisa responds, skipping down the open row with desks on either side. She stops at Rose's side and slings her arm over her shoulder.

"Ew" Rose retorts, pushing Lisa's arm away. Her face scrunches up in disgust. 

"You know you loveeee it" Lisa says, rubbing her body against Rose's playfully. 

"What took you so long?" asks Jennie, causing the two girls to turn their attention to her. Jennie had been thinking about the Jisoo situation for too long and she needed to get her mind off of it. Lisa backs away from Rose and takes a seat on the surface of a desk parallel to the other girls. 

"I was taking down the soccer net but then I got distracted."

"By what?" Rose cuts in. She was still leaning against the desk. 

"Jungkook and Jin."

Jennie looks up for the first time since Lisa walked in. "I thought he was with Jisoo?"

"He was," Lisa responds, flipping her hair from off her shoulder. "I guess they were on their way to lunch or something and stopped by to give Jungkook a snack." She giggles.

"What's funny?" Jennie asks. She bit her bottom lip, focusing on Lisa's face. So much for forgetting about the Jisoo thing.

"With the way Jungkook was looking at him you'd think  _he_  was the snack."

Rose holds her stomach as a growl interrupts the conversation. Lisa scrunches her nose. "That's not very lady like" she says jokingly.

"Oh shut up. You're sweating in like five different places."

Jennie quickly rises from her seat and pushes in her chair before retrieving her bag that hung on the hook on the side of her desk. "Let's go to lunch." She starts towards the door as her other two best friends follow close behind.

*******

The band of five boys make their way down the street, bags of toilet paper in their hands. Namjoon didn't want to join them in their antics and Jin was with Jisoo although it was certain that he wouldn't approve of what the boys were up to. They had decided to skip lunch and the period after that, as they usually do. But Jungkook was surprisingly anxious this time around. 

"What if Jin found out we were skipping?" asks the youngest, who was looking over his shoulder every few seconds. 

Yoongi gives the boy a quick glance before returning his attention to the front. "Since when have you cared about what Jin has to say?"

"Focus, guys" Hoseok cuts in. He's happily swinging his bag full of toilet paper.

There was a sly smirk spread across Taehyung's face as he checked each house they passed for a specific address. Taehyung owned a dog that he adored with his entire being. It was small and fury and it adored its owner. Taehyung had left his pet with a dog sitter the Saturday he went with his friends to the arcade but to his displeasure he was greeted with an injured Yeontan. The sitter didn't keep a close eye on Yeontan and allowed the dog to wander into her garden, where he cut himself on a thorn. It wasn't serious but he was still hurt and that angered Taehyung. 

"Can't wait to toilet paper that bitch's house" The silver haired boy says in an acidic tone. No one lets his dog get hurt on their watch and get's away with it.

_"Oh, Tae, I'm so sorry!"  The young lady says apologetically._

_He gives her a warm smile as she hands him Yeontan carefully, as if he was glass. Fragile. She wasn't aware of the bitterness that hid beneath his smile._

"You handle him with care right now but didn't prevent this from happening."

_"It's okay, ma'am. Accidents happen. Just have to pay better attention. How much do I owe you?"_

_"40 dollars, but you can take off 10 for the accident."_

"I don't owe you anything, you shrew."

_Taehyung retrieves the money from his pocket and then hands it to the woman. She bows, then retreats into her home, closing the door behind her. Taehyung starts down the steps of the home, holding Yeontan up and close to his face._

_"It's okay Tannie, she'll pay."_

"I know that Yeontan got hurt and all but is it really worth toilet papering her house?" asks Yoongi.

Taehyung gasps in disbelief, turning his attention away from the houses to look at Yoongi. 

"How could you ask such a ridiculous question? Of course it's worth it. She even had the audacity to make me pay her afterwards. Like who asks someone for money after you let their pet get hurt under your care?"

Yoongi sighs in response. Suddenly Jimin is tapping Taehyung on the shoulder and all five boys stop in their tracks. "I think this is the house" Jimin says. The boys gather together, looking up at the fairly sized house with two floors. 

"Can we just trash her garden instead and call it a day?" asks Jungkook. He didn't want to admit it but he'd rather be at lunch with Jin right now. 

"But toilet papering is what we do best" Hoseok says, pulling the rolls of toilet paper out of the plastic bag and then throwing it to the side. Taehyung follows suite, pulling his rolls out and handing Jimin one. He seemed genuinely excited.

"Delinquents" Yoongi scoffs, walking over to the big oak tree that stood on the corner of the lady's lawn. He sat down and laid his backside against the rough material. 

"Why'd you come if you were just gonna complain?" Hoseok asks, throwing a roll of toilet paper at him. The raven haired boy doesn't answer. 

Taehyung is the first to run up the sidewalk that led to the porch. 

"Wait!" Jimin calls out. "We don't know if she's here or not!"

Taehyung pays no mind as he's already wrapping toilet paper around the banisters. Jimin gives in and starts paper toiling the bushes, followed by Jungkook and Hoseok, who help each other throw the rolls onto the roof. Yoongi looks on, watching his best friends have fun as they trash the house and eventually start paper toiling each other. He doesn't hear the cop car pulling up.

*******

"Can you hand me that?" Jisoo asks, gesturing towards the bucket of tennis balls sitting by the net that laid on the gym floor. 

Jin obeys, picking up the bucket and handing it to her. She puts the remaining balls inside and starts towards the net. It was the end of gym class and Jin and Jisoo were assigned to clean up the gym. Not that either of them were complaining though. But Jin couldn't help but wonder about his friends. He hadn't seen Jungkook or the rest of Bangtan since lunch.

Jin notices the struggle that Jisoo is having, being that she got her foot stuck in one of the holes of the net. "Need help?" He asks between giggles. Jisoo can't help but blush. She had never heard him giggle before.

"Yes, please" She says, batting her eyelashes. 

He grins, walking over to help her. He gets on his knees and examines the situation. "Lift your leg."

"Excuse me?" She responds rather flustered. 

"Lift your leg so I can untangle the net from your shoe."

She hesitated at first but ended up giving in, lifting her leg as she was told. She didn't dare to look down as Jin got to work untying the knot.

Every few seconds Jin would cast a glance up at the flustered girl who's cheeks were coated with a pink tint. She wasn't good at hiding her blushing. But he couldn't help but admire her body and how well her gym shirt and shorts complimented her physique. He felt his face heat up which was his cue to get back to work.

"Are you done?" She asks impatiently.

"Uh, yeah." He unties the last of the knot, letting the net gently fall to the ground.

"Thanks." She mutters, removing her foot from Jin's hand and walking over to the bucket of tennis balls, lifting it up. Jin wrapped up the tennis net and followed behind Jisoo as they both walked to the supply closet. He eyed her intensely from behind. She walked with so much confidence, even though it was just the two of them. 

He admired the way her dark brown hair draped over her shoulders and the way she cutely swung the bucket of tennis balls. He didn't catch the sudden words spoken by her as they entered the supply closet as he was too busy basking in the glory that was Kim Jisoo. 

He was snapped out of his trance by the loud thud and click of the door closing. 

And locking. 

"Oh my god, Jin." Jisoo says in a panicky tone, letting the bucket fall out of her hand as tennis balls scatter across the floor.

He looks at her with confusion, dropping the tennis net. "What happened?"

"Did you not hear what I said?" She was becoming a nervous wreck. Jin walks over quickly, placing his hands on both of her arms, rubbing them soothingly. She was shaking.

"No, I'm sorry" he says quietly. He had never seen her like this. "Tell me what I did wrong."

The soothing tone of his voice started to calm her down. She closed her eyes and took deep breathes, trying to collect her thoughts.

"The stopper. I told you to put the stopper under the door so we wouldn't get locked in."

_"Ah, so that's what she said."_

Jin felt guilt creep up on him. He was being dumb and not listening and ended up putting them in this position like an idiot. Jisoo was freaking out because of him.

"I'm sorry, Ji. I wasn't listening."

"Apparently." She snorts. She reaches up, ruffling his brown hair. "It's okay. Accidents happen."

"Are you okay?" He asks, not looking directly at her. He was ashamed.

"Mmhm." She responds. She backs away from the hold of Jin's hands, walking over and taking a seat on a pile of stacked gym mats. She pats on the empty spot next to her.

"Neither of our friends are coming for us any time soon and we don't have our phones. We've got some time to kill."

*******

"I do nothing and still get involved in stupid shit." Yoongi scoffs, laying on the bench that was hooked to the wall of a cramped jail cell.

Of course the boys were going overboard. Of course they were fooling around too much to notice the cop car that had pulled up. And of course they freaked out as they were being handcuffed and pushed into the back of the car.

"Had you been paying attention we probably wouldn't be in this mess" Jungkook says, casting the cat like human dirty glances.

Hoseok clears his throat, interrupting the conversation. "To be fair, if Yoongi weren't here  _you'd_ probably be in a worse position."

"Whatever that's supposed to mean." The younger responds.

"You tried to fight a  _cop_ , Jungkook. And Yoongi saved your ass." The red head retorts.

"Guys," Jimin cuts in. "What are we gonna do?"

The boys look at each other, truly not knowing what to do. They were in jail. That was the reality of the situation. But how to get out was a mystery. Jungkook rises from his spot on the bench, slowly walking to the bars that separated him from the outside world. He wraps his clammy hands around the bars.

"Um, Excuse me." He calls out to the attendee at the front desk. She had a police uniform on and her hair was put into a loose bun. Glasses rested on the bridge of her nose and she was filing papers. She looks up briefly before returning to her work.

"Yes?" She responds.

The younger clears the lump that had seemed to form in his throat. "Do we get a phone call?"

"One phone call is allowed to ask for someone to bail you out."

The boys quietly rejoice at the good news, giving each other quick high fives.

"But since you are high school students if you can't have someone bail you out within thirty  minutes then we'll have to call your parents."

The rejoicing had suddenly stopped. The cell was awfully quiet now. Each boy had their fear of their parents finding out that they had gotten into trouble and the last thing they want is to have to explain why they were in jail.

"Alright." Jungkook finally answers. He releases his hold from the bars, retreating back to the dainty bench. He starts to contemplate his options before having his thoughts cut off.

"So, what are our options?" Jimin asks, clutching his uniforms pants tightly. The excitement and thrill from the earlier events had disappeared. A little color had managed to escape from his face and his collar rested on his neck, damp. Yoongi lifts himself from the bench, letting his feet hit the concrete ground and his back on the wall. He seemed oddly calm for someone that was in a situation such as his.

"How about we call Ji-"

"No!" Jungkook almost screams. "No. He can't know we're here, he'll kill us."

"And our parents won't?" Yoongi asks, crossing his arms. He was missing out on his nap time and was starting to regret skipping.

"Jin is out of the question." Jungkook responds.

The boys groan. They didn't have many options being that the only people they associated with were each other. So they only had one other choice.

*******

 "You dumbasses." Namjoon says, reaching through the bars and pinching Jungkook's cheek. Namjoon was the leader of the group but also the most motherly. They didn't want to resort to calling him because they knew he'd nag them but they really didn't have any other choice.

"Oh, baby." Mark says, holding onto the bars as Jimin greets him on the other side. 

"I told you not to bring him." Jimin says to Namjoon, his face red with embarrassment.

Namjoon scratches the back of his head. "Well, you were already skipping and he hadn't seen you all day. Me rushing out of the building after getting your call didn't help either."

"I followed him. I was so worried, Jimin." Mark says softly, reaching his hand through the open space of the separated bars and cupping his crush's cheek. Jimin leans into his hand, it was so warm. The two weren't official yet but that would change soon.

"Get a room." Yoongi says sarcastically. Hoseok punches his arm lightly, causing Yoongi to rub it afterwards.

Namjoon paid the respected fee to bail the boys out, with the help of Mark of course. Jimin practically jumped into Marks arms and the other three boys were gifted slaps on the back of their necks by their leader. But Taehyung, who had been quiet the whole time, had a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to get home to Yeontan and tell him he got his payback.

"Who's gonna tell Jin that you paper toiled someone's house and got stuck in jail for an hour?" Namjoon asks, looking at each boy with a disappointed face. All eyes focus on Jungkook. He groans.

"Fine. I will."

*******

She was an interesting being. Sitting there and taking the time to get to know her just made it easier to realize how truly amazing she was.

Jin and Jisoo had been stuck in the supply closet for what seemed like hours when it was really only one.  They managed to talk about a variety of subjects from their favorite color and why it was their favorite color to if eating pineapple on pizza was a good thing. They both loved pineapple pizza.

They sat side by side on the stacked gym mats. Jin watched as her legs swung back and forth from the height. He never noticed how short she was compared to him. Why did he suddenly find everything she did so cute?

"Hey," She calls out to him. He had been staring into space for quite some time.

"Yeah?" He responds, adjusting his gym shirt.

"How do you feel about Mark and Jimin?"

How does he feel? 

"I'm happy for them." He responds simply. Jisoo nods her head, now swaying back and forth.

"So it doesn't bother you? That they like each other."

"Of course not."

There was a defensive undertone with his response. He didn't care what Mark did or who he liked. As long as he was safe and happy. That's all he could ask for.

"I'm not trying to imply anything, I just-"

"His parents are homophobic."

Jisoo's mouth falls agape as she meets eyes with Jin and she stops swaying. A lone strand of hair falls from behind her ear. He sighs as he closes his eyes and rests his head against the wall.

"Having your parents disown you because you love who you love is shitty and I truly thought that Mark wouldn't be able to find someone he loved because of that but I'm glad I was proven wrong."

She tucks the loose strand behind her ear and places her back against the wall. "Me too." She says softly.

"Hell, I might even like guys too."

"Huh?" Jisoo says, her voice reaching a new pitch.

Jin thought back to the times he'd spend with Jungkook and how much fun they had together. And being with him always gave him this bubbly feeling. Even on that first day they met. Jungkook was shooting daggers through him but the older couldn't help but a feel a little flustered. But he pushes those thoughts and feelings aside. He always does. It's just something that he's not ready to admit to and deal with yet so he'll keep it locked up in his own Pandora's Box.

"Never mind." He says, half chuckling. She doesn't think much of it, it was none of her business to begin with. But she can't help but smile at the boy who was now returning her smile. She was swaying back and forth again.

"You're really pretty." He says suddenly, still looking at her. Their eyes were locked.

"Oh, I know" She says with the biggest grin on her face.

"So you agree?"

"Hmm?" She responds, tilting her head slightly.

"That you're really pretty."

She backhands his arm lightly, giggling. "I didn't know you were a fan of Mean Girls." Her hand was now back on the mat as she continued to sway.

"I'm not. But my mom loved it so I'd always watch it with her."

_"Mama's boy."_ She she thinks to herself. And in the next second, Jin's hand is on top of hers as their fingers slightly intertwine.

"Hey Ji?"

"Yeah?" She says slowly, her body no longer swaying. It was completely still, stiff almost.

"Let's go to the Halloween Ball together."

She could see him. That boy from elementary school who saved her when she tried to protect Jennie from her bullies. How he offered the two girls his juice boxes to calm them down. He was her knight in shining armor. But she could never see him as her prince charming like the ones in those fairy tale books she used to read as a child. That is, until now.

"Sure. It's a friend date."

Jin chuckles at her word of choice but doesn't protest. "Friend date it is."

She couldn't deny her heart. She had broken her promise twice now but as much as she wanted to, she couldn't feel guilty. She had fallen for him all over again but ten times harder.

**✰✩✰**

**im finally on break so i should have more time to write. maybe** **. almost hit 4000 words with this chapter but didn't quite make it**

**my book is ranked in 6 different categories which i think is sick, thank you guys so much. keep reading and voting, i appreciate it. get good rest and eat well, yea?**

**\- kruu**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI this is so late, im sorry. ive been enjoying my break and forgot to update. i hope you liked this chapter and support it on wattpad if you can pls. merry late christmas and have a happy new year. see you next year, space cowboys


	16. fifteen

 

Despite all that had been going on, Jennie still thought the question was worth asking. She hadn't had the pleasure of asking Jisoo early on because she was always with Jin but hopefully that wouldn't be the case this time around. 

The raven haired girl made her way down the hall, peeking through the glass windows that were placed on the classroom doors. She had continued to do this until she spotted Jisoo. She had just finished Calculus and was packing up her things.

Jennie grabbed a hold of the doorknob but was hesitant to open it. She had planned it out in her head. What she was gonna say, at least. But not on how to go about it. It shouldn't be that hard, right? She had talked to Jisoo about more embarrassing things. She didn't dwell on the thought any longer, opening the door slowly and walking in. She closed it behind her softly. 

"Jennie!" Jisoo beamed, pushing in her chair and making her way towards her friend. She seemed ecstatic to see her, much to Jennie's surprise. It had her stomach doing back flips and her heart beating at a fast pace. 

"Hey." Jennie responded shyly. She gripped onto the straps of her bag. It's not like she was asking Jisoo out. Why was she so nervous?

"It feels like it's been ages since I've seen you." Jisoo says, giving Jennie a warm smile.

Jennie chuckles. It was a dry chuckle with a hint of nervousness. Of course she hadn't seen her in ages. She was with Jin all the time. But these were just thoughts that Jennie would never dare speak of.

"What have you been up to?" Jisoo continues.

"Same old, same old." Jennie responds. She had finally managed to relax a bit. "Heard you got locked in a supply closet." She says nonchalantly. 

A giggle escapes Jisoo's lips as she thinks back to her conversation with Jin and how he asked her to be his date to the ball. Pink tints her cheeks. Just when was she going to tell her friends about that?

"It was," She pauses for a moment. "An experience, to say the least."

Jennie doesn't press further, remembering what she came here to do. It was either now or never. Jisoo was here now but who's to say she won't be off with Jin the next day. She clears her throat, grasping onto the straps of her bag harder than she had before.

"Hey, Ji?" she says softly, her gaze meeting Jisoo's.

"Yeah?" Jisoo responds, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere. 

Jennie takes a deep breath. She really thought that in that moment she was being dramatic. It's a lot harder to deal with things involving someone you have deep feelings for when it seems that they don't feel the same way.

"I'm...I'm performing. At a cafe on Saturday. And I was wondering if you could come and you know, support me." She released a big breath that she didn't realize she was holding. She had done it. She had gotten it out there. The most nerve racking step was behind her now.

Jisoo's face lights up, a wide smile spreading across her face. She always admired Jennie's writing. She was amazed by how she could turn simple words and phrases into art and she couldn't get enough of it. She always knew how shy Jennie was about her work so to hear that she would be performing made her happy. Finally, someone else could appreciate her talent. 

"Of course I'll come."

Jennie's face was glowing. "Really?"

"Yeah, but what about Lisa and Rose?"

Jennie bites the inside of her cheek, looking down. She was blushing. Of course she was fucking blushing. "You know more about my work than anyone else so I just wanted you to come."

Jisoo moves in closer, ruffling the ravenette's hair endearingly. "I'm sure they'll understand."

"I guess." Jennie says softly, tilting her head up once more to meet Jisoo's gaze. She gives her a cheeky grin which Jisoo returns.

"I can't wait to see you perform."

*******

"You're such an idiot, you know that?" Mark said, running his fingers through Jimin's blonde locks. The two were sitting on a bench that was located in the courtyard of the school, Jimin sat snuggly between Mark's legs, idly playing with the other's fingers. Jimin let a few minutes pass before answering.

"I'll admit, it was fun up until we got caught. But you're right, I am an idiot."

Mark intertwined his fingers with Jimin's. The contrast of the size of their hands made the older smile. They hadn't yet talked about what they were to each other although Mark was more than ready to have the conversation at any time. But he didn't want to rush Jimin and scare him off. Having him like this, so safe and secured between his arms and legs, was more than enough for him. He'd always be ready for Jimin.

"Incase you're wondering, I won't ever say something like 'Your friends are a bad influence' and tell you to stop talking to them."

"Hmm. I was wondering about that, actually." Jimin giggled thinking about how Mark would be if he was as stern and uptight as his best friend, Jin. Mark rested his chin onto Jimin, ruffling his hair in the process. It was like something out of a movie. It was a cool October day, the wind blowing and hitting their faces softly. The leafs had completely changed colors, decorating the trees in orange and yellow. There was silence between them but underneath it lay mutual comfort with one another. They felt like they were the only two people in the world. Or more so, one boy was the only one to exist in the other's world. 

"Mark?"

"Yeah?" He hummed, wrapping his arms around the younger.

"What are we?"

There was a pause. He was asking the question. The question he had been waiting for for days. Yet he didn't know how to answer it despite being so  _ready_  to answer.

"Whatever you want us to be."

The younger thought on it for a moment. Whatever you want us to be?

"What do  _you_  want us to be, Mark?"

Mark thought he was going to explode. He couldn't contain himself as he started rambling.

"I want us to be happy. Together, you know? I wanna walk down the halls with your hand in mine and I wanna take you on dates. I wanna walk you home and leave sweet kisses on your lips when we part. I wanna be the reason you smile when you have bad days or just be your reason to smile in general. I don't know if I made this obvious enough but I want you, Park Jimin."

Jimin gripped onto Mark's arm tightly, not knowing how to respond. He didn't dare look up at the older since his face was beet red but his attempt proved fatal as Mark reached for his chin, turning and titling his head so that his eyes met with Jimin's.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" 

A lump formed in the younger's throat. He somewhat expected the question but didn't expect it to be so straight forward. He was so ready to be Mark's but yet so nervous. And then it happened. He hates when it does. He hates when thoughts of his ex and what he did start reappearing into his head. He hates that they still have such an affect on him and he hates that he hasn't even had the courage to tell Mark yet. 

Mark notices the silence coming from Jimin, along with the clamminess of his hands. He grabs a hold of them, causing the other to look up. "Tell me what's bothering you" The older demands.

"I'm scared.." Jimin says quietly, burying his face into Mark's chest. Mark wraps his arms around the other protectively. 

"Of what?"

"Of hurting you," Jimin responds. "I'm scared that I'll hurt you because I'm still hurt."

"Ah." Mark coos, rubbing Jimin's back to comfort him. He takes him by the chin again, resting his forehead onto his. 

"It's okay to still hurt, Jimin.  But whatever it is that's bothering you..we'll get through it together. Whatever past that's haunting you won't keep me from being with you, understand?"

The younger doesn't say anything but nods in response. He felt so lucky to have someone like Mark in his life. He truly found comfort and safety in his words. Aside from all of his fears in the past, he was ready to move forward and make new memories. He was ready to be with Mark.

And in an instant, Jimin is taking Mark by his cheeks, pulling him in for a fleeting yet gentle and sweet kiss. The kiss left Mark surprised but didn't stop him for going in for another one. The gentleness and comfort of the younger's lips made it feel like Mark was kissing a cloud. Every peck just made him want more and every giggle from Jimin in between just made the older fall for him harder. Jimin was the first to break away, his small hands still on Mark's cheeks.

"I know that response was a little cliche but I hope it got my point across."

Mark gave him the biggest grin he could manage, unable to contain the amount of happiness he was feeling at that moment. "So you're my boyfriend?"

"Mhm. Oh! I have a question, though."

"Yeah?" The other responded, squishing his boyfriend's cheeks.

"When did you realize that you were gay?"

Mark smiled, thinking back to the moment he met Jin, his first crush. He had become friends with Jin _because_  he liked him but sooner or later the feelings faded and they turned into best friends.

"Jin was my wake up call so to speak. I had a crush on him."

Pure shock was evident on the younger's face. "You liked Jin hyung?"

"Yeah," Mark scratches the back of his head, still clasping onto Jimin with his other arm. "But what I felt for him was nothing compared to what I feel for you."

Jimin's cheeks were now painted crimson red. How could Mark know all of the right things to say? Jimin pinches Mark's cheek playfully, giggling.

"Silly."

*******

It seemed like the hours were starting to pass much quicker now. The school day was already over and students were clearing out of the building, heading home. After club was over, Mark and Jimin announced to the gang that they were official, resulting in many pats on the backs and hugs. After that, everyone had gone home. Except for Jungkook and Jin. Jungkook was still expected to do something at the request of Namjoon, much to the maknae's dismay. And Jin decided on his own to stay behind and clean up. 

Jin was wiping down the windows as Jungkook took a seat in one of the chairs. He decided that the safest approach would be to make small talk first. "So uh, we're presenting our thesis' on Friday. How's yours coming along?"

"I'm just about done with it," Jin tosses the wet rag into the bin, moving on to the next task which was sweeping the floor. "What about you?" He continues. 

Jungkook scratches the back of his neck, something he usually does when nervous. He doesn't recall being this nervous around Jin, the complete opposite to how he was when they met. "I'm almost done with mine too."

The eldest hums in response, sweeping the dirt into the dust pan and dumping it into the trash. "How's your brother?"

Jungkook doesn't know how to answer because he really doesn't know. His brother coming home with bruises was rare now but it still happened and he'd still come home at odd hours. He still didn't have the courage to press him about it or tell his mom. But his brother was alive still, so that was a good sign. Sooner or later he'd have to intervene, though.

 "He's fine." Jin was now at the windows again, attempting to pull down the blinds but they were rather high up so reaching them soon became a struggle for him.

"Need help?" Jungkook asks in a teasing way, leaving his seat to help Jin. He stood behind him, reaching over the older slightly to grab onto the blinds. He didn't realize how close he was but Jin did. His heart started beating rapidly but he didn't know why. 

"Here." Jungkook had the blinds to where Jin could easily grab them. Flustered, he took a hold of them and proceeded to pull them down until they couldn't go any further. He hesitated before turning around. 

"Thanks.." Jin said quietly, fixing his tie. Jungkook was still awfully close. He also noticed the pink tint on his hyung's cheeks which caused him to blush too. The tension was somewhat evident but Jungkook took two steps back, remembering what he came here to do. 

"So I'm just gonna get straight to the point. Me and the others went and trashed someone's house the other day and we got caught and spent a day in jail and Namjoon said it was best to tell you so here I am, telling you." The younger released a long breath. He had expected to be scolded or pinched but that wasn't the case. Instead, he heard a laugh. A really nice laugh that made his heart flutter.

"You all are a bunch of delinquents. Believe it or not, I was worried about you guys when I didn't see you that day."

Jungkook chuckled, a small smile gracing his lips. He knew that Jin was talking about everyone but to him it felt like he was the one Jin was most concerned about and it made him feel special. The older sighs, walking past Jungkook to retrieve his things from the racks. 

"My parents are still working stuff out at home so I can I chill at your place?" Jin asks, slinging his bag over his shoulder. 

Jungkook didn't hesitate to agree, deciding to forget about the storm of emotions reeking chaos in his heart, like he always does.

**✰✩✰**

 

 

 

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> insert wattpad story cover


	17. sixteen

 

 

 

The week of the Halloween Ball was finally here. After much preparation, and scolding from Jisoo, things finally seemed like they were coming together. Much to the boys' surprise being that they actually managed to pull it off. All seven of them, including Mark and Jisoo, stood in the middle of the gym to admire their work.

The little cut outs that Jin and Jisoo had bought that day were plastered all around the walls. Ballroom lights decorated as pumpkins hung on the ceiling, big and shiny. Various other decorations and tables were scattered everywhere.

"I can't believe it" Jisoo says, true astonishment evident in her voice.

"That we managed to pull this off in four weeks? Yeah, me neither" Taehyung responds, walking over to one of the tables and slumping into a chair. Yoongi doesn't bother finding a seat, he decides that the floor is a perfect place to rest after all of the work he's done. If you consider telling people where to put things while you snack on the food actual work, that is.

"I'm glad we're done with this shit" Yoongi says, followed by a sigh.

"You did the bare minimum" Namjoon responds, walking over to take a seat in another chair and kicking Yoongi's leg in the process. 

Jungkook stood there, admiring the scene. He honestly didn't see himself being capable to do something like this compared to how he was in freshman year. But then he caught himself turning his attention to Jin, who was also looking on at the gym. His heart rate started to speed up and he could literally hear his heart pounding against his chest. This was starting to happen a lot more frequently and it's started to become harder to ignore.

Then, Jin's eyes met his. Jungkook's breath hitched but he couldn't look away. He could see that the other was biting his bottom lip before letting his tongue swipe over the top lip and it seemed as if he wanted to say something but the moment was interrupted by none other than Hoseok.

"Ya'll got dates to the ball?"

The group groans at the question.

"Nope" Taehyung responds, popping the "p".

"None of us have dates except for Mark and Jimin and they're going with each other" Jungkook responds, finally regaining enough of his senses to form a sentence. Suddenly, Jisoo is front and center, catching attention of the other boys. Jin's gaze was still on Jungkook, though Jungkook wasn't aware of that, when Jisoo called to him.

"Seok-jin?" He met her eyes then. Her hand was out, a signal that he should grab a hold of it. 

"Did she just call him Seok-jin?" Jimin asks quietly since the question was only meant for Mark's ears but his voice echoed throughout the ballroom. Yoongi scoffed. 

The boys, including Jungkook, looked on as the eldest hesitated to grab her hand. But why was he hesitating? Because Jisoo was putting him on the spot like this? Or because Jungkook was there?

He didn't want to screw anything up, so he took her hand, letting their fingers intertwine naturally, much to everyone's surprise.

"So. We've been meaning to tell you all but Jin and I are going to the ball together."

It hit him. The words hit Jungkook like a truck. He could feel the lump that caught in his throat and he knew that his feelings were unraveling in a way that he didn't like.

"Seriously?" Namjoon asks, clearly in a state of shock.

"I thought this was temporary?" Yoongi groans, throwing his head back. Jimin claps in delight, it being evident that he was the only one genuinely excited.

"Ah. I'm happy for you two" Hoseok says. 

Jin casts Hoseok a small smile. "But hey, if anyone has a problem with me being Jisoo's date then speak up now."

Yoongi got tired of the floor, rising to his feet and dusting off his pants.

"No one has a problem with it, we're just surprised that the girl that was practically obsessed with you is your date."

Jisoo, taking full offense to Yoongi's words, steps forward with her hands on her hips. "Is it really that shocking to you all?"

The boys say "yes" in unison, minus Jungkook, who's feet were moving quickly as he made his way to one of the tables to collect his book bag which he swung over his shoulder and then headed towards the exit.

"Hey!" Jin calls out to him but Jungkook doesn't stop, or turn around to respond. He refused to let anyone see the trickle of tears forming in his eyes for reasons he couldn't understand. He pushed the exit door open with a loud thud and exited the gym.

Though Jin didn't do anything wrong, or at least he thought he didn't, he still felt like he had fucked up big time.

*******

"It's getting cold" Rose said, scrunching her nose and tossing a jolly rancher into her mouth. With the temperatures dropping the girls should be spending their lunch inside but Jisoo insisted on eating in the courtyard today. 

She still didn't know what to make of this morning. Jungkook had stormed out and it was obvious that he was upset. The gang hand't seen him since this morning and Jisoo couldn't help but be worried. She had even offered to help the boys look for him but Jin decided for her that her schoolwork comes first and then did the unexpected. He left a kiss on her cheek as they went their separate ways, which of course she wasn't expecting.

And although it was fleeting, she could still feel her face heat up whenever she thought about the moment and how his lips felt on her skin.

"So," Lisa starts out of nowhere, pulling Jisoo out of her deep thoughts and causing her to drop her fork.

"Halloween Ball's coming up. You guys got dates?" She asks, nudging her fork into Jennie's arm.

"I thought we were going with each other?" Jennie asks, rubbing her arm and scooting slightly away from the playful Lisa. Jennie never thought about actually finding a date, being that the date she truly wanted was out of reach for her.

"Well.."

All eyes were on Jisoo, who's focus was solely on her fingers as she played with them, still contemplating in her head whether this was the right time to tell her friends or not. But the ball was Friday, so now was the only option. 

"Hmm?" Lisa hums, tapping her chin. Jennie's eyes were locked on Jisoo. She already knew the words that were about to come out of her mouth but she wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. She didn't want to believe that Jisoo had found a date. She didn't know if her heart could take it. But her hopes were crushed as Jisoo spoke.

"Jin asked me to be his date and you know, I said yes so..yeah."

Rose almost squealed, jumping up and down in her seat in delight. Lisa gave her a wicked grin, her mind boggling with all sorts of inappropriate jokes she could make. And as for Jennie? She felt like her heart had self destructed. She wanted to be happy for her so, so bad. But she couldn't control how she felt. The girl she liked was interested in another guy. But she smiled anyways because deep down inside in the chaos of her heart, she was happy for her best friend.

"So what, are you two dating?" Rose asks, still chewing on her jolly rancher that had tainted her lips in a red color.

Jisoo chuckles at the question, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "No, but I'm hoping that after Friday that'll change."

"You guys are gonna be cute together, right Jennie?" Lisa asks, she had somehow gotten closer to Jennie and was nudging her shoulder again.

"Yeah.." She responds, a fake smile still plastered on her face.

*******

Jungkook still remembered the times when he was younger and how his dad would bring him here. It was a park, with a fairly sized lake right in the middle and a big oak tree right across from it. Not many people knew about the place so to Jungkook, it was special. It was where his father was buried after he died. It was where he bonded the most with his best friends. It was where he'd retreat to when things became too much. And it was where Taehyung found him that afternoon, after school.

Jungkook laid against the oak tree as Taehyung slowly walked up, greeting the other with a smile. "May I sit?" He asks, not even waiting for an answer as he's already taking a seat next to the younger.

Taehyung takes in a breath before speaking. 

"You know the guys are worried about you, right?"

"Are they now?" He asks in a placid tone, looking on at the lake that had yet frozen up.

"Yes, they are" A chuckle escapes Taehyung's lips as he shifts slightly. "Even Jisoo is worried about you."

The younger doesn't answer, observing a family of ducks swiftly making their way through the lake. He really couldn't deny his feelings any longer. Keeping everything locked up and turning a blind eye to it was doing more harm than good but he really didn't know how to deal with something like this. 

"Jungkook" Taehyung says, a bit of concern in his voice. He was looking at the family of ducks now too. "What's going on with you?"

Jungkook remembered when his dad told him that the park was their spot and to never bring anyone else to it. He remembered being nine and feeling a ping of guilt for bringing his best friends despite what his dad had told him and then confessing that same night only to have his dad comfort him when he cried. He wanted to bring Jin here. He wanted to lay up under this very tree and talk about nothing for hours.

He wanted his first date to be at this very park.

Soon, his face was heating up, and he wasn't thinking clearly. His eyes were glossed with tears that began to trickle down his face. Taehyung took him by the shoulder, allowing the younger to rest in his lap while he ran his fingers through the other's hair as a way to calm him.

"I miss my dad" Jungkook said through choked sobs, allowing his bad boy facade to completely crumble. Taehyung hummed, he could feel the hurt with every word Jungkook spoke.

"If he was here he'd know what to tell you, huh?" Taehyung asked softly. He had a feeling that Jin announcing his date with Jisoo earlier is what did it for Jungkook.

Jungkook tried to wipe away the tears but was only met with fresh ones that left endless streams on his cheeks. He was grateful that it was a best friend seeing him become so undone like this. But the more he thought about Jin, the more it hurt. 

"Why do I feel this way?" More sobs echoed throughout the park. "One boy is making me feel this way and I can't do anything about it."

Taehyung sat in silence, letting his best friend vent out all of his pent up emotions. It hurt him to see Jungkook so hurt like this, but he understood. He understood that he had to hurt in order to get better. "I can't believe your gay awakening was Jin of all people" Taehyung says jokingly, earning a light laugh from the other boy.

"God," Jungkook says, still wiping away tears. "This shit sucks."

**✰✩✰**

**woah, first of all. my book hit 1k reads which is like....SO sick. thank you so much, i truly did not think i'd even get that far and i appreciate every single one of you that took the time to read it. second of all, sorry that this chapter is short, midterms are still going on and they're sucking the life out of me. and for the people that leave votes on all of my chapters cause they're dope like that, this chapter is for you, as crap as it may be aha. im sorry. i love you. see you guys sooooon**

 


	18. seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> im very late but january 25th marked my second year of being on ao3 so happy anniversary to me yepee

 

_"Please don't tell anyone about this."_

The sentence rang through Taehyung's head every minute. He had promised Jungkook that they'd both act like nothing had happened, that being that Jungkook confessed to having feelings for Jin, who seemed to have his eyes on someone else.

Jungkook wanted to forget. To lock away whatever feelings had managed to escape and be happy for his friend. That's what he so desperately wanted. But Taehyung could see the hurt in his eyes still. This wasn't going be something that the youngest was going to get over any time soon.

It was the next day. A Tuesday. 

Everything carried on as how it normally would. Of course the gang, including Jin, had tried to pry an answer from Jungkook about the events of Monday but their attempts proved fatal, Jungkook telling them that "It was nothing" and "Don't worry about it". Taehyung looked on, knowing that his best friend was obviously lying to them. Something that he had never done before. But he promised not to say anything, and he intended on keeping that promise. 

Jisoo even checked up on Jungkook every now and then between classes when she wasn't hooked at Jin's hip. Their liking towards each other was almost suffocating and only Taehyung could see the visible discomfort from Jungkook, who only smiled and laughed off whatever it was that was bothering him. It pained Taehyung to see.

And he had had enough. 

Sure it may seem like selfish thinking, but to Taehyung it was just him helping his best friend. Even if that meant getting between Jin and Jisoo's relationship.

He spent all of fourth period coming up with an idea, something he could really get behind. It cost him a few pages worth of notes, doodling all of his thoughts to be sure he wouldn't lose any but he thought it would be worth while in the long run.

"Taehyung?" the teacher called from the front of the class. Circle shaped rims sat pretty on the bridge of Mr. Nakamoto's nose. He wore black slacks accompanied by black dress shoes. A white buttoned up shirt fit tightly yet comfortably on the upper half of his body, underlining his chiseled features. His black hair sat messily on his head and in his hand was a black marker, which he had just got done using after writing down a math problem.

"Taehyung?"

Taehyung was too caught up in his plans to pay attention to anything that was going on, much like any other day.

"Kim Taehyung" Mr. Nakamoto said, this time more sternly which caused Taehyung to finally look up and meet eyes with his teacher. He didn't know why but the way Mr. Nakamoto said his name left him speechless and left a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Y-Yes?" Taehyung had finally managed to say.

"I appreciate that you're so engrossed in your studies but paying attention every once in a while might help too, you know" Mr. Nakamoto says, ending the sentence with a chuckle. 

You could hear the girls swooning over his voice, which was as smooth as milk chocolate, much like Taehyung's voice, who girls, and women alike, also swooned over. But who wouldn't be head over heels for the youngest teacher in Seoul High School? At just 22 he was already a real catch and popular among students.

"Sorry" Taehyung responded quietly, looking just as bashful as he sounded at that moment.

Mr. Nakamoto gave him a small smile as he held out the marker in the direction of Taehyung. "Can you answer this problem for me?"

Taehyung nodded, quickly rising from his seat and making his way to the front of the classroom. So much for thinking of more ideas. 

Mr. Nakamoto handed him the marker which Taehyung took almost reluctantly. He stared at the board for what seemed like forever, all eyes still on him. But after racking his brain countless times, all he did was draw a blank when it came to an answer to the problem. He didn't realize that Mr. Nakamoto had moved in closer, his lips just grazing the tip of Taehyung's ear, causing him to shutter and grip the marker tightly.

"Pay more attention and then maybe you'll know the answer next time" Mr. Nakamoto whispers before stepping back, leaving an empty spot like he was never there. Taehyung shook his head obediently, putting the marker down and speed walking back to his seat.

Mr. Nakamoto gave the class another smile, as if nothing happened. Taehyung could feel his face heat up with embarrassment. The teacher had practically mocked him in front of the entire class which infuriated Taehyung in a way. Mr. Mun was new but he already wasn't one of Taehyung's favorites. But at least he had finally had a plan to help Jungkook.

*******

Jisoo's friends.

They were Taehyung's first bet at finding help. By the end of fourth period Taehyung was already bolting out of the classroom, not even bothering to push his chair in.

From there he was on the prowl. Odd enough, he had never seen much of Jisoo's friends. All he knew is that they were the "it" girl group. Pretty, popular, talented, and rich. Jisoo and Jin went hand in hand with each other, it seemed. 

Taehyung knew that Jisoo's friends would be supporting her relationship so they weren't going to just flat out help him if they found out that he was (kinda) going to break them up. 

He found the first friend, Lisa, at her locker, fondling with her hair. She was the supposed wild one of the group. Caught up in admiring her looks, she didn't notice the approaching Taehyung, who had to clear his throat a couple times to finally get her attention.

"And who are you?" Lisa asks, casting Taehyung a side glance before double taking, finally not paying attention to her hair.

"Wait" she says, pausing for a moment to examine the being in front of her.

"Kim Taehyung? From Bangtan?"

"You say it like I'm some kind of celebrity or something." Taehyung turns, resting his back against the row of lockers. 

"You and your  _gang_ are very notorious for your trouble making" she responds, reaching inside her locker for a hair brush. "But anyways, is there something you need?"

"Yes, actually" he responds, his tone perking up just a tad. "I have a few questions."

Lisa was no longer looking at him, returning to her hair. "Go on."

"Do you happen to know of anyone that has a big crush on Jisoo? Besides Jin, of course."

Lisa scoffed. "What kind of question is that? And why are you concerned about Jisoo all of a sudden?"

"Why I'm concerned is my business" he responds.

"And my knowledge on who likes Jisoo is also my business" Lisa retorts, sticking her tongue out in a playful way. "Although, half of these blubbering idiots in this school have a crush on her if you hadn't noticed."

Offense graces Taehyung's features. "If you're referring to us guys, not all of us are blubbering idiots."

Lisa laughs, rolling her eyes as she's stuffing her brush into her locker and closing it. "Your group is the epitome of blubbering idiots." She prepares to leave in the opposite direction.

Taehyung reaches for her arm, causing her to turn around. "Come on, I really need your help. Give a blubbering idiot a hand, will you?"

Lisa's lips press into a thin line, somehow not being able to resist Taehyung's pout before finally caving. "Look, I don't know anyone specifically that has a big crush on her, okay? But I'm sure you're bound to find someone around here if you look hard enough."

Taehyung wasn't as satisfied with the answer as he'd like to be but it was still an answer, nonetheless. And he was grateful for it. "Thanks" he says.

"No problem" Lisa responds, pulling away slightly from his grip. "Also, I lied. You're actually not as much of a blubbering idiot as I thought you'd be."

Taehyung cocks an eyebrow. "Oh really, then what am I?"

Lisa smirks, crossing her arms. "You're charming, in a little kid kind of way."

He gives Lisa a boxy smile. "I'll take what I can get. But do you know where Rose might be by any chance?"

"She went home early, but Jennie Kim is in the band room in case you wanted to talk to her."

Taehyung clapped in delight, bolting down the hallway. "Thanks for the help!" he called out to her.

She didn't respond but seeing him so excited made her giggle. "What a kid."

*******

Jennie was just where Lisa said she'd be. Cooped up in the band room with a notebook between her legs and a pen tucked behind her ear. It looked like she was skipping and Taehyung almost felt bad for disturbing her. Almost.

He tried to walk in as quietly as he could, letting the door shut softly behind him. He approached the girl with caution.

"Um, excuse me?" he said, stopping right in front of her but not too close.

She looked up, immediately recognizing the boy. He was Suga's friend. Suga would always talk about his friends during his podcasts which she always looked forward to. Whenever he talked about them, it were like little stars would form in his eyes. 

He described Taehyung as someone who was "rather loud, very mischievous, but has a kind heart with the most unique smile you'd ever seen and a voice as smooth as honey." She also recalled one time when Suga said that Taehyung would die for his dog Yeontan if he had to. It made her giggle, much to Taehyung's confusion.

"What's funny?" he asks, tilting his head sideways.

"Oh, nothing" she said, clearing her throat. 

"You're Jennie Kim, right? I talked to your friend Lisa earlier a-"

"You talked to Lisa?" she asked, not trying to hide the shock in her voice.

"Well, yeah. But that's besides the point. I'm here to ask a few questions, is that okay?"

Jennie was nervous now. What could Kim Taehyung possibly want to know from her? Was it serious? Or was it just something minor?

"Sure" she said. 

"Do you know anyone in particular that might have a huge crush on Jisoo?"

Jennie could feel the lump caught in her throat. Why was he asking that of all things? Did he know? And if he did, then how did he find out? What does the situation have anything to do with him in the first place?

Taehyung noticed the sudden silence from her, he also noticed the sudden loss of color in her face, it seemed as if he had struck a nerve. She almost resembled Jungkook whenever Jin or Jisoo were around. And then it hit him. A light bulb switched on inside of his head.

_"Bingo."_

**✰✩✰**

**helloooo, it's been awhile. i apologize for that, i really don't have a valid excuse aside from school work and me being too lazy to write as usual. also, i feel like i put TOO much in one chapter so they'll probably be about this long from here on out, whoops. but anyways**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOSEOK, MY BEAUTIFUL RAY OF SUNSHINE I LOVE YOU SOOSOSOSOSOSOOOO MUCH <3333 you're one of my biases for a reason, never change baybeeeee**

**AND ANOTHER THING, just to ease any concern that there might be, tae is 18 turning 19 in this story, so whatever i make of mr. nakamoto and tae's relationship WILL** _**NOT** _ **be predatory, thank you. and mr. nakamoto is gonna be my baby yuta from nct obviously. ok bye hopefully ill update faster next time**

**here's yuta:**

       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoseok saw the hashtags on twitter and it honestly just warmed my heart. happy hobi day


	19. eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry about my shitty updating schedule

 

 

 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jennie asked, her facial expression puzzled. 

Taehyung had already made himself comfortable, taking a seat on one of the piano benches. He had a knowing look on his face, like he knew all of Jennie's darkest secrets. He knew one, though. That she liked Jisoo.

"Looking at you like what?" Taehyung asked.

"Like you know something."

"Ah" he says, resting his forearms on the empty rack where stacks of music sheets should be. The nervous look in Jennie's eyes and the playing with of her fingers were both very telling to him. 

"Hm. I do know something."

"You do?" Jennie's voice reached a new pitch. But she couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. His playful tendencies made it hard to tell most of the time. She had know other choice but to keep her cool, there was no way that Taehyung knew. It was just impossible, but her actions could give it away. The playful look in his eyes only aggravated her.

She let out a deep sigh. "What _do_ you know, Kim Taehyung?"

He removed his forearms from the racks, criss-crossing them across his chest. He wanted to keep this going a little longer. Making her think he knew something, which he did of course but then again that wasn't set in stone. But she didn't know that. In the end he decided that it was time to get to the point. The playful look in his eye disappeared, seriousness being the only expression spread on his face. 

"I know that you have a crush on Jisoo."

Jennie was speechless. How was she supposed to respond? She clenched onto her notebook tightly, giving Taehyung the best death glare she could manage.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Taehyung asked innocently, though his face was still serious. But he knew exactly what he was doing.

"How did you know?" she asked. She had given up on the tough girl act, letting it crumble before the mischievous boy. There was no point in being stubborn or trying to hide it from him. He knew.

Taehyung observed her somber expression and suddenly felt bad for prying into her business in the first place. He left from his spot on the bench and took a seat on the floor next to her. He left enough distance between them, not daring to get any closer.

'Well. By the way you were acting when I brought it up I could tell. But this must be a sensitive topic for you, I'm sorry for asking."

Jennie loosened up a little. She knew that Taehyung wasn't a bad kid and didn't mean any harm by asking.

"It's fine" she said quietly. She removed the notebook from her lap, placing it on the side of her before letting out a big sigh and resting her back against the wall, much like Taehyung was doing. It was baffling, really. Jennie was about to put it all out there and confess her feelings and it wasn't even going to be to the person she actually _liked_. She thought that if she ever had to confess and it wasn't to Jisoo that it would at least be to one of her friends. 

She had suddenly found herself avoiding Jisoo. She did anything to keep the girl off of her mind and yet here she was, being the topic of discussion. Jisoo had even decided to not sit with the girls during lunch today, instead she sat with Jin which Jennie was relieved yet upset about. Rose and Lisa also had felt a type of way about her actions but they didn't seem as bothered by it as she did.

"Does she know?" Taehyung finally decides to ask to break the looming and cumbersome silence. Jennie shakes her head almost immediately.

"Of course not. Things would be much...much different if she knew. And not the good kind of different."

Taehyung absorbed all of the information, nodding as he took in every word that left lingering disappointment whenever she spoke. He knew that this wasn't some regular school crush that Jennie had. She was practically in love with Jisoo and it only made him want to carry out his plan more.

"I have a friend that really likes Jin and I'm trying to help him out. And I think we have a common goal here so we could really help each other."

Jennie let a light chuckle escape her lips. "Are you serious? Messing with their relationship is wrong, and even if I did wanna go along with this it would never work. She's been pinning after him since forever, she'd never fall for me."

Taehyung turns his body to face Jennie, crossing his legs. "Okay, what if she's tricking herself into liking Jin to guise the fact that she might have feelings for another girl?"

Jennie lightly chuckles again, not being able to believe what he's saying. Was he serious?

"That's a bit of a reach, don't you think?" she asks.

Taehyung thinks back to his moment with Jungkook at the park and how the youngest broke down in his lap, confessing through sobs about his feelings that he had for another man after eighteen years of believing he was straight.

"It's not completely impossible" Taehyung responds.

"I'm sorry, Taehyung. But I just can't bring myself to ruin her happiness _and_ have her hate me."

Taehyung nodded. There wasn't really lot of convincing he could do. But she did have a point. He wanted to see Jungkook and Jin happy but was meddling in Jin's relationship really work the risk of possibly losing both of his friends? He sighs, a frown forming onto his face.

"You're right, I guess. But it's just that...my friend is really torn over this and I wanted to help, that's all."

Jennie understood where he was coming from. He really was a sweet boy and his heart was in the right place.

"You can help by just being there for him. Emotional support goes a long way, especially from someone you love."

Taehyung considered her words. "I'm assuming that nobody knows about your feelings except for me so I'll just have to be your emotional support" he said, giving her the biggest smile he could manage.

She giggled, the first sign of joy he had witnessed from her since entering the room. He chuckled lightly, scratching the back of his head.

"Suga was right about you" she unintentionally says aloud.

"What?" he asks, confused as to who she's referring to.

"Nothing" she says, visibly embarrassed. 

*******

Jin spent his lunch in the clubroom and for once, not by Jisoo's side. His thesis was due Friday and he didn't even know if Jungkook's was done. So he decided that it was in his best interest to spend his lunch finishing it and pester Jungkook about his later. 

But of course, the timing was almost too perfect. Stuck on a sentence, Jin didn't notice that the youngest had entered the room with his book bag and lunch and by the look on his face when Jin looked up, he didn't think his hyung would be there either. 

"Jungkook!" Jin said, almost too excited to see him.

"Hey" Jungkook responded rather awkwardly, placing his lunch on the table and his book bag on the racks. He took a seat in the chair that was placed on the other side of the table. 

"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever" Jin says, placing his pencil on the table, no longer paying attention to his thesis. Jungkook lets out a dry chuckle. He obviously knew why they haven't seen much of each other, but he didn't know why Jin was acting so oblivious to it, unless he really didn't know. He took his folder from under his arm and placed it on the table. He removed five sheets of paper, all with paragraphs of writing on it, from the pocket and also placed that on the table.

Jin took the chance to ask Jungkook about his thesis but for some reason he suddenly felt so nervous and wasn't sure if his sentences were going to come out in complete shambles or coherent.

"Did you write all that?" Jin asked. Of course it was the latter. 

"Uh, yeah?" Jungkook responded, looking over his writing. 

_"Idiot"_ Jin thought. Of course he wrote all that. "So you're done with your thesis?"

"Mhm. Just gotta grammar check and stuff."

Jin nodded his head. He couldn't understand why he was at such a loss for words all of a sudden. And Jungkook wasn't being very talkative either which was unusual for him, well, in Jin's eyes. His eyes kept darting from Jungkook's paper to his face. Constantly. He examined his features, which were tense in a way and he could tell that the younger was trying his hardest not to look at him. The atmosphere was annoyingly tense for reasons that were unknown to him. 

"Can I read it?" Jin suddenly asks. 

Jungkook gulps. "My paper?" he asks, not making eye contact with the oldest. 

"Yeah. I'll show you mine too if you wanna see."

Jungkook thought on it for a moment. For once he actually put effort into something school related besides the club for Jin's sake and it was something he was actually proud of. But his conflicting emotions for his hyung were also laid out on these pieces of papers. They weren't in plain sight, but they were hidden, and he wanted to keep it that way until he was ready.

"Nah. Just wait until I present it on Friday."

Jin was a little dissatisfied with his answer but he respected it nonetheless. 

There was silence between them again. 

"So how are you and Ji-"

"Can I come over to-"

They both laughed, realizing that they were talking over each other.

"What were you gonna say?" Jin asks between laughs.

Jungkook hadn't heard Jin laugh in years it felt like. It was so warm and comforting but it was also a laugh that once you caught ear of it you'd just have to laugh too. Hearing his laugh only made Jungkook grin harder than he had all week and it left butterflies in his stomach. He honestly hated what Jin was doing to him.

"Nothing, nothing" he responded, deciding not bring up Jisoo in fear of ruining the moment. 

"Ah, well," Jin said, leaning back into his chair. The late afternoon sun shun threw the window, hitting Jungkook and highlighting the pools of a beautiful brown in his eyes. It was mesmerizing to Jin, a sight he didn't want to look away from.

"Um," he coughs, realizing that he had been staring for far too long. "Can I come over after school tomorrow? It's been awhile since we hung out."

"Yeah" Jungkook responded almost immediately. Jin smiled. "Cool" he said, returning to his paper. He didn't realize the tint of red that tainted Jungkook's cheeks.

*******

"Yoongi!" Hoseok almost screams. He throws a piece of paper at the blonde haired boy who didn't even bother to turn his head when his name was called, instead his attention was on his phone, listening to music through his earbuds.

The paper hits Yoongi's head lightly, causing him to turn his head slightly. "What, Hobi?"

"That's not the homework we're supposed to be doing."

Yoongi scoffs, returning his attention to his phone. "Don't get on me about doing my homework when you _barely_ do yours."

Namjoon, Jungkook, and Hoseok had all decided to head over to Yoongi's after school to catch up on homework together.

"Some of us actually want to graduate, Yoongs" Namjoon chimes in. He was looking through his Chemistry book for answers to the problem he was working on. Yoongi lets out another scoff. He really didn't enjoy doing real work.

"You're only saying that now because Jin gassed up your ego."

Namjoon rolls his eyes before returning to his Chemistry book.

"Namjoon, you're actually a genius when you apply yourself!" Yoongi says in a mocking tone before letting out yet another scoff. "Please."

Hoseok throws another piece of paper at Yoongi. "Quit being so bitter. And Namjoon is the smartest out of all of us."

Everyone nods their head in agreement. 

"Touché.." Yoongi says under his breath.

"Where were you during lunch today?" Yoongi asks in a matter of fact tone, changing the subject. Jungkook seemed to be deep into his homework but the reality was that he was thinking about the moment with Jin in the club room. How his eyes were always on him, how he looked at him. 

"I was with Jin" he responds, scratching the back of his neck. 

"Alone?" Namjoon asks, cocking an eyebrow. 

"What are you trying to imply?" Jungkook asks almost defensively. 

"Guys" Hoseok cuts in, preparing to throw another piece of paper at the both of them. 

Yoongi removes his earbuds, putting his phone to the side and replacing it with an Algebra book and his notebook. As much as Yoongi hated work he wanted to graduate just as much as anyone else. He suddenly had a thought, turning to the guys. "Why didn't Taehyung come?"

"We couldn't find him and when I called him he said he was busy" Hoseok answers.

"He's probably off doing something dumb" Jungkook says, grinning at the thought of what ridiculous thing Taehyung could be up to.

**✰✩✰**

**I APOLOGIZE for taking so long to update, ive been caught up with school and i got stuck when writing some parts of this chapter. IM SEEING BTS in chicago on may 11th and this is my first concert and im so excited**

**also, happy belated birthday to my baby, my son, min yoongi. i love you so much yoongles.**

 

 

 

 


	20. nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was gonna post this on my birthday, which was last saturday, but i forgot. my bad lol

 

It would soon be a month since Jin's dad moved out of their apartment. Jin loved his father dearly but the constant arguing between his mother and him was becoming too much for Jin to handle.

He was happy that his father had decided to move out; he knew that the decision was for the best. But he hadn't heard from his dad since then and he was concerned. Jin knew about how much of a drinker he was and he was afraid that being seperated from his family might have taken a negative affect on him.

When Jin got home after walking Jisoo home that Tuesday night, he decided to voice his concerns to his mother.

The train ride was peaceful, as always. But this time around he actually had something on his mind. He couldn't understand why but he couldn't get Jungkook off of his mind. The moment they had in the club room was captivating for him and the exact calming expression on the younger's face was edged into the back of his mind.

The thought of it left a certain feeling in the pit of Jin's stomach but it was a nice feeling. After the train reached his stop he hopped off quicker than usual. He was almost speed walking on his way home.

Finally reaching his apartment complex, he enters the building and is immediately greeted by the desk clerk.

"Good evening, Mr. Kim" the clerk says with a smile plastered on her face. The smile that Jin had been so accustomed to since he was little.

"Good evening" he says, giving her a small smile and bowing before heading to the elevator. He presses the lowest numbered button and starts tapping his foot against the marbled floors as he waits for the elevator. When it finally reaches the first floor Jin gives the clerk another bow before getting on and pressing the highest numbered button.

The clerk looks on in surprise, not use to the gesture from Jin.

Jin rests his back against the metal of the elevator, closing his eyes and taking in the silence as he'd usually do when preparing himself for the chaos and noise made from his feuding parents. But he didn't have a reason to do so anymore.

When the elevator finally stops at his apartment, he gets off, looking around for any sign of his mother. The living room was clean and put together. Nothing seemed as if it was moved. He slings his bag onto the couch and heads into the kitchen where he's greeted by his mother who was, to his surprise, cooking.

"Mom?" he asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs that was placed at the long kitchen table. He observed as his mother was preparing his favourite dish. She hadn't made it since he was ten but the smell was all but unfamiliar.

"Oh, Jin!" she says with more life than usual in her voice. "You're home kind of late. Where have you been?"

"I was walking my friend home" he says casually.

"One of the boys?" she asks, sturring around the food in the pot.

Jin couldn't tell why she was acting so different so he decided that it was good to not mention Jisoo just yet.

"Yeah" he lies, scratching the back of his head.

His mother takes a taste of the food before retrieving a plate from the cabinet and putting a portion of food on it. "It's your favorite, remember?" she asks, placing the plate on the table in front of him.

Jin eyes the food, the smell taking over his senses. He really did miss his mother's cooking. His mouth is watering as he takes the fork that his mother had placed on the table and dives into his food, savoring every bite. His mother takes a seat next to him, a sweet smile spread across her face.

She hadn't had the pleasure of seeing her son so happy in so long.

"Jin?" she asks, still eyeing her son with a loving expression.

"Yeah?" he says, his mouth half full.

"Nu-uh. Swallow first" she demands. He does as she says, putting his fork down and swallowing the rest of his food. She gives him an approving look and then continues.

"Is there something you wanna ask me?"

A lump catches in his throat. He wanted to ask how she knew but then again he was her son. Of course she knew.

"Yeah.." he says quietly, suddenly becoming nervous.

"Is it about your father?"

"Are you a mind reader?" Jin asks almost too seriously. But then again, mothers are mind readers.

She lets out a soft sigh, placing the palm of her hand onto Jin's cheek, gently swiping her thumb across his cheek before removing it from his face.

"Why are you so nervous to ask about him?" she asks.

"Because I thought that was a sensitive topic."

"Is it?" she responds, a small smirk gracing her features.

Jin didn't know if he wanted to answer or not. Was that a trick question?

Her smirk fell, a somber expression now evident on her face. She knew and understood why he was nervous.

"Are you concerned about him?" she asks.

"Yes" he says, not meeting her eyes. "And I didn't wanna text him cause y'know, I thought giving him space was the best option."

She thought on his words for a moment. Although she knew that the constant arguing between her and her husband was affecting Jin, she didn't think he'd still be concerned for them.

"Are you gonna get a divorce?" Jin asks suddenly, catching his mother off guard. She wasn't expecting that question from him but it wasn't like she didn't have an answer.

"No. But we're gonna get counseling. We're gonna get through this."

Jin didn't want to admit to it but he was relieved to hear that. But he didn't want his parents to try to make things work for his sake. Tears started to form in his eyes but he didn't want to cry in front of his mother.

She noticed the streams of tears falling down his cheeks and pulled him into the biggest hug she could manage. She rested her chin on his head, running her fingers through his locks.

"You know, we're not just doing it for your sake" she says softly. "We both love you so,  _so_  much, Jin. But we love each other too."

He doesn't respond, instead he sniffles, burying his face into his mother's chest. He couldn't believe he was crying.

She smiles at the gesture, rubbing his back to calm him down.

"I don't want you guys to leave each other" he says quietly, cluching his mother's shirt as more tears run down his face.

"We won't" she responds. "I promise."

*******

Jungkook spent all of his Wednesday afternoon with Jin. He could tell that Jin could sense that he was being distant but Jungkook just didn't have the heart to tell him why. He tried to engage more, though. He didn't want Jin asking questions.

It was around 7 p.m. when Jin finally left. Their parting was more than awkward, not knowing if they should shake hands or hug. They had never worried about something like that, them saying good bye to each other being the only thing they ever did when they parted but things were different.

Jungkook watched Jin make his way down the sidewalk and he watched until the eldest completely disappeared from his sight. He sighed, walking over to the couch and taking a seat.

Jungkook wondered if distancing himself from Jin would be the best option at this point because as time went by and they spent more time together, Jungkook could feel his emotions becoming stronger. Sooner or later they'd become too strong to control and whether that takes a negative or positive affect isn't up to Jungkook anymore.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. In walked Hyun, his little brother.

It wasn't as late as it usually is when Hyun decides to come home but he didn't participate in after school activities so he had to been doing something else. Hyun slings his book bag onto the kitchen table and then walks over to the refrigerator to retrieve a drink.

"Hey, Hyun" Jungkook says, hoping that his brother would at least respond to him.

Surprisingly, he does. "Hey.." he mutters, a little roughness in his voice. Hyun takes a sip of his drink before putting it back in the fridge. Jungkook noticed that his ripped black jeans were rather dirty and the black hood that covered his face. Jungkook got up, walking in the direction that Hyun was in.

Hyun stood there, looking through his book bag for something.

"Hyun" Jungkook says, reaching out for his hood. Hyun slaps his hand away, backing away from Jungkook.

"Don't touch me" he says with a little anger in his voice. Jungkook's face is puzzled at first then it's replaced with an expression of annoyance.

"Don't tell me it's another damn bruise" Jungkook says. He walks up to Hyun again, this time forcefully removing Hyun's hood to reveal a fresh bruise under his right eye. Jungkook scoffs.

"It's none of your business" Hyun says, looking at his older brother with clear disgust in his eyes.

"None of my business? I'm your brother, Hyun. I don't know if this is some bad boy phase you're going through or what but I'm sick of you hiding this shit from me and from mom too."

Hyun doesn't say anything, he doesn't even dare to look Jungkook in the eye. The mom comment had clearly hit a nerve.

"Whatever it is that you've been doing obviously isn't good if you're coming home every week with bruises" Jungkook continues, his hands on his hips. "Tell me what you've been doing or I'm telling mom."

"No!" Hyun almost screams, his eyes finally meet with Jungkook's and they look blood shocked.

"Then tell me where you've been going" Jungkook demands sternly.

Hyun hesitates for a moment and then takes a seat at the kitchen table. Jungkook doesn't sit with him, he remains in his spot with his hands still on his hips. Hyun runs his fingers through his hair before finally speaking.

"I've been hanging out with a gang...in Daegu."

"Yoongi's territory?" Jungkook asks with surprise in his voice.

"Sure, Yoongi's territory. But there, I told you. Happy?"

"Very" Jungkook responds, finally relaxing some. He pulls out another chair and sets it in front of Hyun before taking a seat. His expression is calm but Hyun wouldn't look at him.

"I'll be walking you home from school until I know you're not hanging with that gang anymore" Jungkook says. Hyun of course protests.

"No fucking way" he says, crossing his arms and slouching into his chair.

"And you're telling mom what you've been up to too. She has a right to know."

At that point, Hyun didn't see the point in fighting. Jungkook wasn't going to let up and he was right, keeping it from his mom would only hurt her in the long run and he didn't want to do that.

"Fine" he says, followed by a sigh. Jungkook gets up, ruffling his brother's hair before pulling him in for a hug. Hyun doesn't fight it, burying his head into his brother's chest.

"Can I go to my room now?" Hyun asks, his voice muffled.

Jungkook doesn't answer, instead he squeezes Hyun tighter, not wanting to let go. Hyun could feel the love and protection coming from his older brother in that moment and he just couldn't bring himself to break away.

So they stood there. Two brothers embracing each other.

**✰✩✰**   

**joontro was amazing. the hair, the rap, the skool luv affair refrences. that was a classic. like...i can't even find the words to describe how proud i am of my sons...**

**thanks for 1.61k and 70 votes, i really appreciate it. my 17th birthday is tomorrow btw....lol.**   **can i please stop changing the book cover**


	21. twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been forever, im sorry space cowboys. but im seeing bts tomorrow so yeehaw?

 

 

Wednesday after school, for Jennie, was the same. She spent most of it looking over her piece that she would perform on the coming Saturday. She had looked over it a million times because this wasn't just any performance. Not only was it her first but it would be her first time performing in front of Jisoo. Jennie couldn't get the girl out of her head, thoughts of Jisoo being the only thing on her mind.

Jennie couldn't take it anymore, picking up her phone and texting Jisoo. She waited for a few minutes because usually Jisoo would text her back almost immediately but after ten minutes Jennie decided to call her. The phone rang a couple times before Jisoo finally picked up.

"Hey" Jisoo said, sounding like she wasn't expecting a call.

"Hi" Jennie responds rather hesitantly, suddenly not knowing what to say. To her it sounded like Jisoo had just gotten home.

"What's up?" Jisoo asks, settling into a comfortable position on her couch.

" _I was just thinking about you."_

"Oh, nothing" Jennie responds, shaking her head. What was she thinking? "What're you up to right now?"

"Just got home" Jisoo responds, switching her phone into her other hand. "Did I tell you that Jin walks me home now almost everyday? He's so sweet but today he had plans with Jungkook so I walked myself."

It stung. It stung more than it was supposed to. Since when was Jin walking her home? And why did the thought of the action make Jennie so jealous? Because she liked Jisoo obviously. She wanted to be the one to walk her home but Jisoo couldn't know that.

"Jennie?" Jisoo calls. The calling of her name pulls Jennie out of her dark cloud of thoughts.

"Sorry" Jennie apologizes, letting a dry chuckle escape her lips.

"You've been kind of out of it lately, is everything okay?"

Was everything okay? Jisoo probably asked Lisa and Rose too who didn't give an honest response in the means of protecting Jennie so why should Jennie have to be honest? She was already lying about everything else so what difference did it make?

"Everything's fine, I've just been nervous."

"About your performance Saturday? Don't worry about that, you'll do amazing and I'll be there to cheer you on."

That made Jennie's heart flutter. She wanted to burst out and just say "I love you!" right then and there but she wasn't insane. "Thanks" she responded.

Then Jisoo asked an unexpected question.

"Can I spend the night?"

"Huh?" Jennie said, almost choking on air. She responded like Jisoo had never spent the night at her place before. But this was new because it was always Jennie who asked.

"It's been what, like two weeks since I've been over? I wanna see you and go over your performance"

"I uh" Jennie was at a lost for words and she couldn't imagine how stupid she sounded at that moment.

"I'm gonna pack some stuff and then i'll be right over. Wait for me!" Jisoo says and without a second thought hangs up the phone, leaving Jennie still on the other line sitting on her bed with complete disbelief on her face.

*******

When Jisoo finally arrived Jennie greeted her at the door. Before she could even say anything Jisoo was already pulling her in for a tight hug which Jennie of course enjoyed. She took in Jisoo's smell, which was oddly different. Jennie had always recognized Jisoo's smell as lemon but this time she smelled of strawberry. She didn't get a moment to think, Jisoo grabbing her hand and dragging her upstairs.

Jisoo slings her back onto Jennie's bed where Jennie decides to take a seat.

"Mind if I take a shower? I need one" Jisoo asks, not bothering to hear Jennie's answer as she makes her way to the bathroom because she already knew Jennie would say yes.

"Sure" she says quietly, looking around her room idly.

Jennie could hear the water running in the silence of her bedroom and she could hear Jisoo's beautiful melody that she liked to hum whenever she bathed. Jennie hummed along, closing her eyes and basking in the sound. Suddenly images of Jisoo popped into her head. But they were different than usual. In these images, Jisoo had no clothes on and they were also in bed together. The sun hitting Jisoo in all the right places, highlighting her curves and the brown color in her eyes.

Jisoo was smiling at her, extending her arm out to tuck some of Jennie's hair behind her ear before leaning in for a soft kiss. Jennie shot up from her bed, opening her eyes. Was she now having  _fantasies_  about her? She sighed, rubbing her eyes. She hadn't realized that the noise from the shower was no longer audible or that Jisoo was walking out into the same direction that Jennie was.

They bumped into each other, the towel luckily covering Jisoo as she falls over back first. Jennie lands on top of her, groaning as she rubs her head. Then she's still, suddenly realizing the position that she and Jisoo are in. Jisoo's eyes roamed from Jennie's hair to her eyes to her collarbone. Jennie couldn't help but stare either, her chest clearly visible. Jennie wanted to leave marks all over it right then and there. She wanted to taint the perfect skin so everyone would understand who she really belonged to. Jisoo's eyes were hazed so Jennie couldn't tell what she was thinking but she knew that if they stayed in this position any longer then things wouldn't end well.

"Sorry" Jennie finally said, clearing her throat and removing herself from on top of Jisoo.

"It's okay" she responded, a bit confused about what had just happened. She got up, making sure that the towel was still securely wrapped around her body. "I'm gonna go change, don't go anywhere" she said followed by a light chuckle.

She turned, quickly making her way out of the room with a tint of red gracing her cheeks.

*******

It had quite literally been a few days since Jungkook saw Taehyung. The only time he saw his face for more than a few seconds was on Wednesday during club. He knew Taehyung like the back of his hand and he knew that when Taehyung wasn't around much he was up to something.

Jungkook had decided to spend his Thursday lunch wrapping up the last of his thesis that he'd present tomorrow. The thought of standing in front of all his classmates, including Jin, and reading it out loud made him nervous. But he thought that this would be the only way to confess without actually  _confessing_. As he finished up his last sentence, he saw him. A wild Taehyung had just sped past the classroom.

It took a few minutes for Jungkook to process the sudden action and his next movements were anything but calculated. He quickly packed his things into his book bag, careful not to rip his thesis in the process. The plan in mind? To follow Taehyung and see what the hell he's been up to.

Jungkook rose from the chair and made his way to the door, hesitating then carefully looking around it to see if he could spot Taehyung without being seen. Taehyung had his bag slung across his shoulders as he made quick timing down the hallway, not paying attention to anything else. As he turned a corner Jungkook took the opportunity to exit the classroom and follow the other's path, making sure his footsteps were as quiet as possible. He made his way to the end of the hall, peering around the corner to find Taehyung walking into the band room.

 _"The band room?"_ Jungkook thought. Of all the years Jungkook had known Taehyung, the older had never shown any interest in music and hadn't even stepped foot into a band room. He left his bag at the corner, tip toeing over to the window that spread across the wall next to the band room door. He peered over the sill for a quick second to see Taehyung sitting with a girl. A girl he recognized. In fear of being seen he bobbed his head down.

What was Taehyung doing with Jennie? He was confused. Were they seeing each other behind everyone else's backs? Whilst Jungkook was struggling with his forbidden feelings for Jin, Taehyung had entire girlfriend on the side that he was keep from everyone else?

But Jungkook knew that these thoughts of wanting to know what was going on between Taehyung and Jennie were selfish. He couldn't expect Taehyung to tell him anything while he himself was hiding something too. But he still thought it was worth a try to ask him about it, regardless of the circumstances.

*******

"I'm tired of of getting emails from this damned principal" Yoongi said, sneering at his phone before locking it and putting it in his pocket. He sat against the cool window, his uniform blazer draped across his shoulder.

Namjoon was finishing up the rest of his homework at the table, a glowing Hoseok shadowing him since he had, for once, finished all of his homework on time. Jin sat across from them, examining the email that the principal had sent. It was another notice about the shutting down of their club if they didn't have ten members by the end of November.

"Well I mean, we got Mark so that makes eight of us," Jin said, still looking over the details.

Jimin, who sat snuggly by the computers between Mark's legs, squeezed his boyfriend's hand tightly at the comment from Jin.

"If Jisoo joins then that'll make nine of us!" Taehyung says with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Yoongi glares at Taehyung but doesn't linger on the comment for much longer, a sudden yawn interrupting his thoughts. It was six o'clock and way past Yoongi's nap time. He grabbed his bag which sat beside him and made his way to the door. Hoseok stopped hovering over Namjoon, following behind Yoongi like a lost puppy.

"Where ya going?" Hoseok asks, watching Yoongi take ahold of the handle on the door.

"Home" Yoongi says rather vaguely. Hoseok smiles, walking over to the rack to retrieve his things and then walking back to the door in enough time to slip through and follow Yoongi. It had been obvious that the two were going home together for the day. Namjoon had decided to follow suite, packing up the rest of his things and making his way to the door.

"See you guys tomorrow!" he says, getting ready to leave. He then has a thought, turning to face the remaining boys. "Oh, and don't forget that we're meeting  _here_  after school to go to the dance" he waves, exiting the club room.

Jin, Jungkook, and Taehyung were the only ones left after the departure of Jimin and Mark. They cleaned up the clubroom and shut down whatever else device there was that was on. Around seven o'clock Jin got a call from Jisoo who wanted Jin to walk her home. He said his goodbyes to his friends, giving Jungkook an extra sweet smile that, of course, made Jungkook's heart skip. Jungkook had started to think that the older was doing it on purpose just to get a rise out of him. 

After wiping down the windows and tables, Taehyung prepared himself to leave. Jungkook could see that he was just about out the door and quickly grabs his arm, causing Taehyung to turn around.

"Ouch!" Taehyung says. Jungkook had realized that he gripped the other's arm too hard, letting go and apologizing. Taehyung rubs his arm, being over dramatic about the pain as always.

"With the way you gripped my arm whatever it is that you need better be good" Taehyung says, putting his bag on the ground and taking a seat at the table.

Jungkook stood there in place, thinking about how to approach the situation. He knew that neither of them had all day so beating around the bush really wasn't an option. Taehyung was his best friend, his first one. And they had talked about their fair share of weird things.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Jungkook blurted, not looking at Taehyung. He didn't expect for the older to laugh.

"Jeon Jungkook, are you trying to ask me out?" Taehyung asks playfully.

"No, it's just.." Jungkook says, letting his doe eyes drift onto Taehyung's face. Taehyung sighs, rising from his seat and walking over to Jungkook, wrapping his arms around him.

"What's on your mind, Kook?" Taehyung asks softly, followed by a soft hum in the other's ear.

Jungkook's thoughts had never been so jumbled up and confused as they were at that moment. Or for the past week, at that. He let a sigh escape his lips, releasing himself from Taehyung's hold. The other didn't protest, watching Jungkook take a seat by the windows which gave a beautiful view of the setting sun.

"I saw you with Jennie, in the band room" Jungkook had finally managed to say. And then he said nothing else, leaving nothing but silence between them, waiting for a response. Taehyung stood there in front of him for what seemed like hours before letting a chuckle break the silence.

"I get it now," He said, returning to his seat at the table, resting his legs on top of it. "But it's not what you think, we're not dating or anything. In fact, we barely know each other so I'm actually surprised that  _you_  do."

"I don't know her either but I'm aware of the fact that she's one of Jisoo's best friends."

Taehyung stared at Jungkook for a moment, examining his facial expressions. He had never seen Jungkook so troubled before. The whole Jin thing seemed to be stressing him out.

"It might be wrong to tell you this being that no one else but me knows but you are my best friend so,"

"What are you talking about?" Jungkook asks, looking up at Taehyung.

"Jennie has a crush on Jisoo."

Jungkook scoffs. "Don't bullshit me, Tae."

"No bullshit!" Taehyung says, his arms up in defense.

"But yeah, she confessed to me about her feelings earlier on in the week and since then I've been trying to be there to support her since she can't go to her friends."

Jungkook thought on it for a moment. Him  
and Jennie were practically going through the same thing but at least he had someone like Taehyung to be there for him. He could only imagine how Jennie must be feeling.

"You two didn't just happen to come across that topic by coincidence," Jungkook says. "What were you trying to do?"

Taehyung could feel the lump in his throat as he tried to swallow it. Jungkook's serious eyes staring him down had him sweating in seconds. There really was no use in lying.

"Look, seeing you walk around here and hanging out with us and pretending to be happy is really depressing and I just wanted to help. So I thought that if I found someone that liked Jisoo and matched her with them then you could have Jin."

"That's selfish" Jungkook retorts, crossing his arms.

"I know that now," Taehyung responds, rising from his chair to take a spot next to Jungkook who didn't even cast him a glance.

"And i'm sorry for thinking so selfishly. I just wanted you and Jin to be happy."

Jungkook sighs. He rests his head against the window, closing his eyes as the setting sun hits him at an angle, highlighting the brown of his hair.

"You know, Tae. This whole week I thought " _Just avoid Jin and the feelings will fade"_ but honestly...Jin's happiness is all that matters to me so if his happiness lies with Jisoo then it is what it is and there's no changing that."

"What about you?" Taehyung asks.

"I'll get over him. I'm content with that now. I'll lose these feelings and keep moving forward. I'll treat it as a lesson learned, if you will."

"And what lesson did you learn exactly?" Taehyung asks, mimicking the younger's action as he rests his head against the window, a small smirk gracing his lips.

"Never to fall for boys like him."

**✰✩✰**

**i finally finished this chapter after a month of procrastinating lol. i will admit though that as the school year comes to an end i've had a lot of work to do and finals are around the corner but i'll try my best to update as fast as possible, especially since it took me so long this time around. thank you to my beautiful space cowboys that were patient with me and i hope this chapter was worth the wait**

**i'll be in chicago tomorrow to see bts and** **i'm** **really** **excited** **and nervous cause** **it's** **my first one** **but** **i wish for the** **safety** **of others who are going and i** **hope** **everyone** **has fun** **.** **bye** **see you** **soon**


	22. twenty one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so i saw bts last weekend and it was cold but so much fun and the post concert depression is real cause i miss them so much and my mom is an army now lol

"Do you think they'll end up together?" Lisa asks, rummaging through the contents of her rather messy locker. 

 

"Who?" Rosé responds, not really paying attention to the conversation but more so on filing her nails.

 

Lisa gives Rosé a confusing look since it was obvious who she was talking about but after finding that Rosé was barely paying attention as is, returns to her locker.

 

"Oh!" Rosé beams, snapping her finger. "You mean Jin and Jisoo."

 

Lisa snorts, giving up on looking for her hairbrush and reluctantly closing her locker. "That's definitely not who I'm talking about" she responds, her words laced with obvious sarcasm.

 

Rosé pinches the other girl in response to her sarcastic comment, rolling her eyes. "Who knows what'll happen between them," she says. "Just like, what, a month ago? Jin found her annoying but all of a sudden he's head over heels for her."

 

"Feelings change. It's not like he hated her" Lisa responds, resting her back against her locker which was plastered with different pictures of her and her best friends.

 

"Feelings really do change, huh?" Rosé continues. "Cause I'm sure you were thinking the same way a few weeks ago."

 

Lisa sighs, thinking back to her encounter with Taehyung on Tuesday. Was it Tuesday? She couldn't exactly remember but she remembered the conversation and the boy's boyish personality which was laced with mischief but also full of life. She remembered his smile and how fitting it was on him and how determined he was to find Jennie.

 

Was she developing a crush? No, romantic feelings weren't really her thing. It was more of a sort of admiration for the boy. The encounter was an eye opener for Lisa and she wondered if the rest of Bangtan were as pleasant as he was.

 

"I think it'll work out. They're practically at each other's hip everyday" Lisa says, her stare that was originally focused on the ceiling now adjusting to the view that laid just outside the window that stretched down the entire hall both ways.

 

Rosé questions Lisa's sudden change in heart but she doesn't dwell on it. That's just how she is. "I'm worried about Jennie" she suddenly says, the mention of the girl catching Lisa off guard.

 

"Why worried?" she asks, her gaze returning to her friend who was also laid up against the locker next to Lisa's.

 

"She's been acting different lately and I feel like she's distancing herself from us, but to be more specific, Jisoo."

 

Lisa thinks on Rosé's comment for a splitting moment. Jennie hadn't been herself lately, that much was obvious. But were Jennie and Jisoo really going through something that they didn't want to tell their own best friends?

 

"I wouldn't worry about it" Lisa says. "If something was really up then she'd tell us but I'm pretty sure it's just some quarrel that she and Jisoo are having."

 

"A quarrel that she can't tell us about?" Rosé asked, annoyance evident in her tone.

 

The only reason why Lisa wasn't as irritated by the situation as Rosé was was because she knew that Jennie and Jisoo knew each other before they met her and Rosé. So it's only natural that there's things they'd just rather keep to themselves.

 

"Give it time, Rosie" Lisa says in a soothing tone to calm the cherry red haired girl.

 

Rosé sighs, deciding that it was best to just listen to Lisa. She pushes herself off of the locker, collecting her bag and other things that laid at her side. Lunch was over.

 

"I'm going to class. You coming?" she asks.

 

"What is the rest of Bangtan like?"

 

The thought rang through Lisa's head like a never ending alarm. After her encounter with Taehyung, that's all she could think about. Were they really as bad as others, herself included, made them out to be?

 

"You go on ahead" she responds, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Rosé shrugs, waving at her best friend before turning in the opposite direction and heading to class.

 

Lisa turns on her heel, making her way to a class that wasn't hers but Taehyung's.

 

***

 

Jin had just gotten done spending some very needed time in a bathroom stall to think over the events of the past week. Or to be more accurate, he had just got done overthinking everything.

 

Between Jungkook's episode on Monday, barely seeing Taehyung around on Tuesday, and every other day he spent with Jungkook that felt anything but normal, there was a lot on his mind. And not to mention that today was the day. It was Friday, which meant that the Halloween dance was here and so was the presentation day in his final class for the school day.

 

He rose from his spot on the relatively clean toilet seat, unlocking the door and then stepping out and up to the sinks. He ran the cold water for a few seconds, taking the time to loathe over his reflection. The one and only Kim Seok-jin whose face everyone swooned over looked like he hadn't slept in at least three days despite the fact that he had been getting sleep, just not much.

 

He splashed a pool of cold water on his face, basking in the feeling of the liquid which felt so relaxing on contact. He relaxed his features, looking up once again at his reflection. He started to think about Jisoo.

 

Images and scenes of her started to pop up one by one in his head. Some not so pleasant ones from before they became close and then some after they did. The images and scenes brought a warm feeling to his heart but not the kind he expected.

 

He didn't feel butterflies in his stomach.

 

He enjoyed being with her, when they were friends at least, but when it started to become more than that the dynamic shifted. He couldn't understand why he was just realizing this now of all days but it confused him. He liked her, didn't he?

 

He wanted to be with her, right?

 

But he started to realize that feelings he felt when with Jungkook weren't the same as the ones he felt with Jisoo.

 

Jungkook.

 

Jin groaned as thoughts of the younger and all of their time together started to form in his already overwhelming brain. How did it come to this? They were practically at each other's throats in the beginning so how did it end up this way?

 

He sighed louder than intended, resting his head in the palm of his hands. "Fuck, I can't do this" he moaned.

 

"Do what?" a groggy voice asked from a stall off at the far end of the bathroom. Jin, startled, turned around quickly as a messy haired Yoongi wobbled out of the stall.

 

"Yoongi?" Jin asks with pure shock. What was he doing in a bathroom stall? The question was rather ironic though, being that Jin had just spent all of his lunch period contemplating in one.

 

"I gotta find somewhere to sleep where the teachers won't nag me" he responds, running his lanky fingers through his already messy hair. He stops at the sink right next to Jin's, turning the faucet on and washing his hands.

 

"Sounds like you" Jin responds, followed by a chuckle, and then an apology upon realization that he had woken Yoongi up.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in there."

 

"It's cool" Yoongi says nonchalantly, reaching for a paper towel. "Do you always contemplate your hectic life out loud?"

 

Jin couldn't tell if he was joking or not, letting yet another dry chuckle escape his lips. "How much did you hear?" he asks, hoping that he didn't hear too much.

 

"I really wasn't paying attention," Yoongi responds. Jin sighs to himself, thankful for Yoongi's less than caring attitude when it came to things that didn't involve him. "But I just knew it was you."

 

"Ah" Jin says.

 

"You wanna talk about it?" Yoongi asks, now looking at Jin.

 

"About what?" Jin responds.

 

"About what's bothering you, dumbass."

 

Jin curses at himself for being so stupid in that moment. His mind was truly all over the place.

 

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine" Jin finally responds.

 

Yoongi shrugs his shoulders, making his way towards the bathroom exit. "Well, whatever is that you're going through I'm sure you'll persevere."

 

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Jin asks, puzzled.

 

Yoongi, for the first time since they met, turns and gives him his signature gummy smile as he grasps ahold of the door. "Cause you're Kim Seok-jin, after all."

 

And just like that, the cat like human is out the door, leaving Jin in the bathroom alone and in absolutely awe.

 

***

 

Lisa always sees Taehyung go into the same classroom after lunch so it's only natural that she'd know exactly where to go when looking for him.

 

Taehyung sat in his usual seat at the back of the class doing nothing but doodling, daydreaming, and gazing out of the window as he always does. Nothing productive in this particular class at least. Every once in awhile he'd cast a hard glance at Mr. Nakamoto, who'd return the favor.

 

Ever since that little stunt he pulled the other day Taehyung had loathed coming to class more than he had before. How could a teacher get a rise out of bothering one of his students was beyond Taehyung.

 

He continued doodling, thoughts of Jin and the rest of his friends fueling his creativity. But he was also worried. About tonight, that is. He didn't know how things were gonna turn out. Would Jungkook finally crack if Jin and Jisoo decided to seal the deal? Would it be the smart choice to just tell his friends what he swore to Jungkook that he wouldn't in hopes of having back up if anything happened?

 

At the request of Jisoo herself, everyone would meet at the club room an hour after school after going home to retrieve their costumes and other necessities so they could get ready together. "It'll be like a bonding experience" her exact words echoed in his head. She was practically a club member at this point and to Taehyung's surprise, Yoongi had started to warm up to her too.

 

A tapping noise interrupted his thoughts. It was Mr. Nakamoto, of course.

 

"What are you drawing?" he asks rather nicely.

 

"A picture" Taehyung responds, trying his best not to answer with the utmost sarcasm.

 

Mr. Nakamoto laughs, but not too loud to where he'd interrupt the other students who were nose deep in their studies for the upcoming test that Taehyung might or might not fail.

 

"I can see that" he coos. Something about his demeanor was different. He seemed more relaxed, more comfortable than normal for a teacher/student relationship. It was like they were more than that.

 

"It's my friends" Taehyung says, deciding to loosen up a little. He slides the picture across his desk enough so that Mr. Nakamoto could look at it.

 

He observes it. Every pencil stroke, every detail. It baffles Taehyung because he never expected the teacher that always picked on him to be so engrossed in his art.

 

"It's really good, are you an artist?" he asks, still hovered over Taehyung in such a protective manner.

 

"It's a hobby of mine" Taehyung says, trying not to smile. Mr. Nakamoto notices, his face softening at Taehyung. Then there's a knock at the door, interrupting their moment.

 

"Lisa?" Taehyung blurts out, his attention no longer on his teacher.

 

Lisa is standing at the door observing the classroom in hopes of finding her silver haired acquaintance. Taehyung's outburst earns him a few hushes but nonetheless, Lisa spots him.

 

"I need to talk to you" she almost demands, walking up to his seat.

 

"Ms. Manoban" Mr. Nakamoto says, no longer standing as close to Taehyung as he was before. Lisa pays no mind to his call, grabbing ahold of Taehyung's wrist and pulling him out of his seat.

 

"About what?" Taehyung says, not even having time to pack his things as Lisa drags him out of the classroom. He casts a glance back at Mr. Nakamoto who watches as Lisa practically kidnaps him but he doesn't go after him, instead he stays, trying to calm down the class.

 

Once out of the class and in a back hallway, Lisa and Taehyung are finally alone.

 

"What the hell was that about?" Taehyung asks, almost out of breath and beyond confused.

 

Lisa is serious. Dead serious.

 

"Firstly, i'd like to apologize for judging you. And yeah, you didn't know that but I've done nothing but judge you and your friends since freshman year."

 

Taehyung's face is puzzled. "Okay?" he says.

 

"But to be honest, after bumping into you that day I had a realization. A realization that you and your gang might not be as bad as I thought" Lisa continues.

 

Taehyung scratches the back of his head, having no idea what to say or where this conversation was going.

 

Lisa pauses for a moment, taking a breathe before getting to the point and asking the question that not only shocked Taehyung, but herself.

 

"Can I join your club?"

 

✰✩✰

 

**not gonna lie, i think you and i both know that this is most likely my most well written chapter yet and it only took me a day to do during school so excuse me but i'm very proud of myself. it felt so nice writing it too cause everything just flowed and there was never a moment where i got stuck and it's the best feeling i tell ya**

**side note: i'll be a senior in less than ten days and it's exciting but also terrifying**

**i love you my space cowboys i hope you like this chapter as much as i do**

**\- love, kruu**


	23. twenty two

"Huh?" Taehyung says, his voice reaching a higher octave. 

 

"You heard me" Lisa responds, crossing her arms. She continuously looks over her shoulder, making sure that no one was present during their conversation.

 

Taehyung notices the action, smirking. "You wanna join the club and yet you're embarrassed to be seen with me."

 

Lisa whips her neck back around just as fast as she turned it in the other direction. "That's not true!" she says defensively. "I just don't want anybody in this school catching wind of it because, well.."

 

Taehyung understands what she's trying to say, suddenly regretting making the remark in the first place. "I get it. I know how this school can get."

 

Bangtan was most definitely a household name in Seoul High School but it wasn't for good reasons. They were delinquents of course but the students would always take that and run with it, making up whatever rumors along the way.

 

So by nature, showing any interest in joining their club made you one of them too and subjected you to whatever rumors there were. Lisa didn't care about things like that but then again she didn't want to go through all of that if she didn't have to. That is if the "joining Bangtan's club" thing ended up falling through.

 

But she gave Taehyung a soft smile. He was as pleasant as he was the other day and she appreciated it.

 

Taehyung returns the smile, taking it upon himself to prop his body against the wall that stood right next to the two high school students. "What brought this about? Why'd you have a sudden change of heart?"

 

Lisa wanted to say that it was him who brought upon this change of heart because she was never the one to front or beat around the bush. She always says how she feels but for some reason she wanted to keep this one thing to herself. Just this once.

 

"I dunno. Does it matter?" She responds, her arms still folded.

 

Taehyung shrugs his shoulders, taking one glance down the hall before turning his attention back to Lisa.

 

"Guess not" he says.

 

"By the way," Lisa says, a sudden thought popping into her head. "Are you and Mr. Nakamoto seeing each other?"

 

Taehyung's eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his eye sockets at that moment. What kind of question was that?

 

"No!" he says almost immediately.

 

"I don't know why you're acting like that," Lisa says, trying her best to withhold her laughter. "With the way he was looking at you and hovering around you anyone would think the same thing."

 

Taehyung knew she was right but Mr. Nakamoto was something that he didn't want to think about right now.

 

"Hey," Taehyung says, changing the subject. "If you're going to the Halloween ball tonight then you should come with my friends and I. We're meeting in the club room an hour after school."

 

Lisa thought on the offer for a moment. Jisoo was already going with them and Jennie had been acting weird all week.

 

"Are your friends gonna be okay with that?"

 

"Of course!" Taehyung says. Lisa can already see the boxy smile forming on his face. "They won't mind, they're nice. Consider this your first club activity."

 

Lisa smirks, accepting the offer.

 

***

 

Jungkook is nervous. Far more nervous than anyone else in the classroom. He sits at his desk that stood towards the front of the classroom, looking around and observing the atmosphere. Everyone is conversating about different things, mainly about the Halloween ball that's taking place tonight.

 

He quickly glances over at Jin, who's engrossed in his thesis, reading it over and over again. Jungkook should've probably been doing the same thing but he couldn't focus. So many thoughts and emotions were flowing throughout his brain and his entire body. And none of them were about work.

 

Jungkook had finally felt like he could be content with Jin and Jisoo dating but for some reason he felt different about it all together today and he hated it. He hated his emotions and he hated himself for letting them get to him. Jin had made a complete mess of him.

 

Suddenly Jin is next to him but also slightly behind him, looking over his shoulder.

 

"Hey!" Jungkook says, quickly resting his paper against his chest before Jin could catch a look at it.

 

"Sorry" Jin says, laughing at him. "You seemed bothered so I wanted to check on you."

 

Jin was still propped over the other's shoulder, much to Jungkook's displeasure. Any other day he'd enjoy it but with everything going on in his head today he'd prefer if Jin kept his distance.

 

Jin could feel the discomfort radiating from the younger, stepping away from him. "I volunteered for us to go first" he says rather quietly.

 

Jungkook curses Jin in his head for even suggesting that but what's done is done. Jungkook takes a deep breath, letting his doe eyes drift up to lock with Jin's.

 

"I'm fine, hyung."

 

Jin's heart flutters at the use of the name. Just as he's about to say something else the teacher is already walking through the classroom door, clapping his hands to get the attention of the other students.

 

The class finally calms down, returning to their respected seats.

 

"Okay!" Mr. Mun, the chemistry teacher, says. "I assume and would hope that everyone knows what today is."

 

A few groans escape the lips of some of the students. They will never understand why such an assignment was assigned for a chemistry class.

 

"You all had about one month to work on your thesis so I'm hoping to hear some good ones today," Mr. Mun says, his gaze scanning the classroom.

 

"For those of you who forgot the point of this assignment, it was to write one page solely based on your observations of your partner. Their personality, habits, ways of thinking, etcetera."

 

Jungkook's leg moves uncontrollably. This was gonna be his only confession to Jin without it actually being one and he didn't want to fuck it up. Jin, who sat next to him, notices his jittery behavior and places a hand onto Jungkook's thigh.

 

The action was meant to calm him, that Jungkook knew, but it only sent his heart through the roof.

 

"Jeon Jungkook and Kim Seok-jin!" Mr. Mun calls, signaling them to come to the front of the classroom.

 

Jungkook turns to Jin, who gives him the most reassuring smile that he can manage.

 

The two rise from their chairs, making their way to the front of the class. Jungkook could feel the students burning holes in the back of his head, watching every movement he made.

 

Once in front of the class, they introduce themselves.

 

"I can go first if you want" Jin whispers.

 

Jungkook appreciates the gesture, he really does. He appreciated everything that Jin did to try and make him feel better and he just wished that he didn't feel like this.

 

He denies Jin's offer, clutching onto his paper like his life depended on it.

 

"Guess I'll go first" Jungkook says, his voice a little shaky. It was obvious that the class wasn't use to this Jungkook. The nervous one. But then again no one knew him really.

 

Jungkook takes a deep breath, clearing his head of everything. Every feeling, every thought.

 

"From Jungkook, to Jin" Jungkook starts. He wrote his thesis in the form of a letter.

 

All eyes were on him.

 

"I thought you were a jerk when I first saw you. But now, years later, I realized that I was wrong and I'm sorry for judging you that day."

 

Jin didn't want to react until the end but he couldn't help the small smile that creeped up on him.

 

"I guess I'll start with your personality. It's most definitely something. Something I've never had the pleasure of experiencing. You're not as self-centered as people make you out to be and despite what others may believe, you're caring of other people than yourself. Our first encounter was interesting, to say the least. I thought you were just some stuck up pretty boy that needed a body guard to protect you but you surprisingly can hold your own."

 

"You care about your friends and your family and even when you barely knew my friends and I you cared about us too, even if you didn't wanna show it at the time."

 

Jin was looking at him and Jungkook could feel his eyes and it made him nervous but he kept going.

 

"Your ways of thinking amaze me, really. I've always noticed how out of the box you think and at some point I wished I could think like you because my thought process is such a one way street, you know?"

 

"I'm sorry, though. I'm sorry for judging when I barely knew you because I should know better than anyone what that feels like. And even when we had our little spats we somehow always came to some type of resolution. I've always been a delinquent. Skipping class, not doing work, picking fights. But since I've met you I haven't done any of those things. I guess you could say that somehow you lead me into the right direction."

 

Jungkook took another deep breath, glancing just for a second at Jin who never took his eyes off of him. He returns to his paper.

 

"You've got to want things to change too"

 

"I remember you saying that to me one time because I, of course, was being stubborn and for no reason at that. You've always been so level headed contrast to me and I admired that but never wanted to say anything which is the reason why you're just now finding this out. We've managed to become closer over these last few months and I don't regret it. I somehow feel like I can talk to you about anything."

 

"Because you're easy to talk to, honestly. I don't regret meeting you but I do regret not becoming.."

 

Friends?

 

Is that really what he wanted to be? Just friends?

 

Jin looked on, concerned for Jungkook. It was so silent in the room to the point where you could hear a pen drop.

 

"I don't regret becoming friends" he continues.

 

His hand, which laid on his side, felt warm. Like another hand had graced his with its presence. No one seemed to notice anything so he didn't dwell on it, continuing on with the last paragraph of his paper.

 

"There's a lot of memories between us already but I'd like to make more if that's okay. With you, my friends,"

 

The other hand that laid in his squeezed.

 

"Jisoo."

 

"It was fun observing you but also really annoying. But I wouldn't change my partner for anything."

 

Jungkook squeezed back.

 

"Thanks, I guess. Your friend, Jungkook."

 

There was a few moments of silence after he finished. He could finally relax his muscles that had been so tight and strained since he started. Then everyone clapped. Some people in the back who could care less about the class didn't react in any way but the majority did, apparently satisfied with his paper.

 

Mr. Mun was also clapping.

 

And so was Jin, who's hand had finally left Jungkook's just in time before anyone could catch it.

 

***

 

Today was interesting, to put it simply. It was six o'clock by the time everyone arrived at the club room to get ready. Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok were the first to arrive with their costumes. Yoongi and Hoseok had decided that they'd match cat and dog costumes. Namjoon decided on being a Hufflepuff from Harry Potter, his circle rimmed glasses making themselves comfortable on the bridge of his nose.

 

They brought other things with them as well, such as candy, games, and banana milk for the youngest. Hoseok was helping Namjoon with his tie when Taehyung walked in, Lisa following behind.

 

"Who's she?" Yoongi asks as he adjusts his cat collar. He was surprisingly calm about her presence.

 

Taehyung steps to the side so that everyone can get a good look at the newcomer. Lisa decided to take the safe route and dress up as Rapunzel. The long violet colored dress contrasted nicely with her blonde hair.

 

"This is Lisa! She's friends with Jisoo" Taehyung says, his fake fangs poking out as he talks. He was a vampire, draped in the typical vampire costume with a long black cape with crimson red on the other side.

 

"Nice to meet you," Hoseok says cheerfully, finally done adjusting Namjoon's tie. He walks up to her, holding out his hand. "I'm Hoseok."

 

Lisa gladly accepts his hand, giving it a good shake. His voice was something she'd never heard before, unique in every way and his smile reminded her of the sun, full and bright. She liked it. "Nice to meet you too" she says, returning his smile.

 

"Aaaand that's Yoongi" he continues, pointing at the boy who had made himself comfy on the couch. "He can be a little grumpy at first but he'll warm up to you."

 

"And I'm Namjoon" Namjoon says, holding out his hand which Lisa happily shakes.

 

"He's like the leader of the group!" Hoseok chimes in.

 

Lisa enjoyed this. She had barely been in the room for longer than ten minutes and already enjoyed the presence of every single one of them. She wondered if that's what it was like for them when they all met each other.

 

"I don't know if Taehyung told you yet but I'd like to be a part of your club if that's okay" Lisa says, earning a small "really?" from Hoseok and a look of disbelief from Namjoon.

 

"Great! We need more members" Yoongi says nonchalantly, engrossed in the comfy feeling of the pillows.

 

"Well if Yoongi says it's okay" Namjoon says.

 

Lisa smiles brightly but wonders if Namjoon really is the boss around here or if it was actually Yoongi.

 

"Lisa?" Jisoo says as she walks in, Jin closing in behind her. They looked amazing, their matching Snow White and the Prince costumes fitting them nicely.

 

"Hey" Lisa responds, giving Jisoo a hug.

 

"I didn't know you were gonna be here" Jisoo says rather surprised.

 

Lisa chuckles, rubbing her arm. "I haven't seen you all day so I didn't get a chance to tell you."

 

"Hi, Lisa" Jin says as he makes his way to the table to retrieve some of the candy the others had brought.

 

"Hey" she responds but all attention turns towards the entrance as Mark, Jimin, and Jungkook walk into the room, all decked in their Hufflepuff wear. The original plan was to let Hoseok and Yoongi do their own thing and the rest could match with whatever they wanted but Taehyung wanted to be difficult.

 

Jin couldn't take his eyes off of Jungkook. He had his favorite pair of black skinny pants on accompanied by shiny black dress shoes with the Hufflepuff robe, blazer, and tie. It was almost embarrassing with how hard Jin was staring.

 

"We brought you some banana milk, Kook" Namjoon says, tossing him the bottle. He catches it, responding with a "thanks".

 

"Jungkook, Jimin, Mark!" Hoseok says. "Meet Lisa."

 

Lisa waves, taken aback by the beauty of these men. She may not develop romantic feelings as much as other people but she wasn't blind; these boys were gorgeous.

 

"Nice to meet you, Lisa" Mark says, lending Lisa his hand to shake while the other is grasping onto Jimin's. Jimin smiles widely, releasing his grip of Mark's hand and pulling Lisa into a big bear hug.

 

She wasn't used to someone she barely knew pulling her in for such a hug but then again she wasn't complaining. Jimin's hugs were nice.

 

"Nice to meet you, Lisa! Let's be good friends, yeah?" Jimin says. Lisa nods in compliance.

 

"Jennie and Rosé said they'd meet us at the ball" Jisoo says, practically clinging to Jin's hip. Lisa thought it was cute how attached she was because it really seemed like her dream had become a reality.

 

But she couldn't help but notice the expression on Jin's face. He seemed happy to be with her on the surface but Lisa could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

 

"We got about another hour before we leave," Hoseok says, reaching for the board games that were tucked away in his bag.

 

"Who wants to play board games?"

 

✰✩✰

 

**okay i promise i'm done dragging this whole thing along i just wanted to fit as much as i could into this chapter so that i'll be able to only focus on the ball in the next one. but yea, this little arc is coming to a close i can't wait**


	24. twenty three

Busy.

 

It was certainly busy.

 

After about an hour of playing board games, and Jin rage quitting every time because he kept losing, the ten high school seniors made their way to the gym where a night of fun awaited them. Or so they thought.

 

Once arrived at the gym, the gang were greeted with a gym filled of music and students. All colors of costumes contrasted with each other, some more outlandish than others.

 

Taehyung, like the little kid that he is, gawks at the costumes, suddenly regretting not coming in something more show-stopping. Jimin hides behind Mark, his hand grasping onto Mark's like his life depended on it. He was a bit nervous with all of the people who had decided to attend.

 

Mark noticed Jimin's shyness, pulling him into a hug. "We can go if you want" Mark says into Jimin's ear in order for him to hear. Jimin watches as all of his friends make their way onto the dance floor.

 

"I'm fine" Jimin responds, giving Mark a warm smile. Mark lays a soft kiss onto Jimin's head, pulling him into the crowd.

 

"So many people" Yoongi says, not trying to hide the irritation in his tone. Yoongi, Jungkook, and Namjoon stood guard by the snack table.

 

"Well what did you expect?" Jungkook asks, looking on into the crowd, watching Jin and Jisoo. He didn't want to admit it out loud but they looked cute together. Having fun in each other's presence.

 

"What are you looking at?" Namjoon asks, interrupting his thoughts. Jungkook doesn't answer, turning to retrieve a drink from the snack table. Namjoon doesn't pry anymore, adjusting his glasses.

 

Lisa makes her way through the crowd of people who were getting more than comfortable with each other as the music continued, fueling their dancing. She spots Jennie and Rosé on the other side of the gym, conversating with each other.

 

With a little pushing and a few excuse me's, she finally reaches her friends who admire her costume.

 

"Cute!" Rosé gushes. Jennie nods in agreement, her mind elsewhere. Lisa notices her far away look but doesn't comment on it, complementing Rosé's costume instead. She decided to go the extra mile and have her Cinderella costume glow, the baby blue color highlighting the flow of her dress.

 

"Was the glowing your dad's idea?" Lisa asks, going in for a hug that Rosé gladly accepts.

 

"Of course! He's so flashy" Rosé responds. Jennie dressed up as The Red Riding Hood, this Lisa notices.

 

"Jennie?" Lisa says.

 

"Huh?" Jennie responds, snapping back into her senses and paying attention to the conversation.

 

"Are you okay?" Lisa asks, concern laced in her tone.

 

Jennie really didn't know the answer. She was just as oblivious to her feelings as everyone else was and every time she glanced at Jin and Jisoo on the dance floor she couldn't tell if it was jealousy that tugged at her heart or something else.

 

She nods, that being her only response before she drifts off into the crowd.

 

"She's definitely not okay" Rosé says to Lisa. Lisa nods, looking on into the crowd and at Jennie, her red cape disappearing in the sea of people.

 

Lisa suddenly remembers that Rosé has no idea that she's a part of Bangtan now, snapping her fingers. "Ah, I almost forgot."

 

"Forgot what?" Rosé asks. Lisa grabs ahold of her hand, pulling her through the crowd in the direction of the snack table. Namjoon spots Lisa approaching, waving for her to come over. Confused, Rosé tugs on Lisa's sleeve, pulling her back.

 

"What are you doing?" Rosé seethes.

 

"Stop being scared" Lisa responds with a smile, moving to the snack table with Rosé still holding on.

 

"Is this your friend?" Namjoon says with a smile on his face, his dimples complementing him.

 

Lisa nods, moving over to reveal Rosé who was originally hiding behind her. "She's one of my best friends."

 

Namjoon holds his hand out in hopes that Rosé will shake it despite how nervous she is because even though he wasn't showing it, he was just as nervous.

 

Still not aware of what's happening, she places her hand into his, giving it a soft shake before quickly pulling it away.

 

"Where's your other friend?" Jungkook asks, his attention finally off of Jin and Jisoo. Before Rosé can muster up the courage to answer Lisa responds.

 

"Uh, she went to be bathroom."

 

"But anyways," Lisa continues, turning to Rosé. "I didn't drag you over here for nothing."

 

Yoongi takes a sip of his fruit punch, not paying mind to the current conversation.

 

"So you've probably wondered where I've been for most of the day,"

 

Rosé cuts her off, pinching her arm. "Yeah, actually. I have. You went off somewhere else after lunch and I hadn't seen you all day!" She folds her arms and puffs her cheeks.

 

Lisa rubs her arm at the feeling of the pinch, Rosé's pinches always hurt more than they were expected to. She laughs at her friend's reactions, the other three boys looking on at the interaction that kind of reminded them of themselves.

 

"Look, this is kind of important so I need you to be serious."

 

Rosé abides by her words, nodding with her arms on her sides. "Serious face on" she says.

 

"So to put it simply," Lisa sighs. "I'm joining Bangtan's club."

 

Rosé's jaw is practically on the floor as the final syllable flows out of Lisa's mouth.

 

Yoongi, who had been in his own little world enjoying his fruit punch, catches Lisa's words, almost spitting out his drink. He gags, followed by rough coughs.

 

"What the fuck" he says, eyeing Namjoon. Namjoon's arms are up in defense.

 

"Don't look at me!" he says. "This was Taehyung's idea, so if you have a problem with it then take it up with him."

 

"You're the only one who has a problem with it by the way" Jungkook chimes in, giving Lisa a smile.

 

"Taehyung did what now?" Taehyung says, popping up out of nowhere. Judging by his wet hair and a red apple sitting comfortably in his right hand he had just gotten done with an apple bobbing competition.

 

"You" Yoongi almost spits out, pinching Taehyung's wet cheek.

 

"Yoongi" Jungkook calls, pulling the boy to the side. "I know that you're not the most welcoming person but with Lisa we'll have 10 members which is just what we need so you're gonna have to deal with it."

 

Yoongi doesn't fight his words, knowing that the youngest was right. He was gonna have to deal with it at some point.

 

Rosé, who was nothing but silent, finally speaks up.

 

"Huh?"

 

***

 

11:30 p.m was the time.

 

The party still raved on throughout the night, some students just now deciding to show up. The Bangtan gang, accompanied by Rosé and Lisa, enjoyed themselves.

 

Bouncing around the gym from the dance floor to the various games stationed in the corners.

 

Jin and Jisoo didn't mind them, or the time. From the moment they arrived to now they had done nothing but enjoy each other's presence on the dance floor, not paying mind to the others and conversating between their dance breaks.

 

Jisoo tripped over her dress, Jin catching her in his chest. She giggles, clinging onto his shirt.

 

"Sorry" she says between giggles, out of breath.

 

"We've been dancing all night but the party's just getting good and you wanna trip up on me?" he jokes, steadying her.

 

She punches his arm playfully, flattening the creases in her dress. The feelings between them felt different almost. And Jisoo didn't know if she was the only one who could tell. She felt as if their feelings had evolved in some way and she learned more about Jin tonight than she had when they spent time together during school.

 

He was put together, yet he wasn't. At times he knew exactly what to say and then he didn't. He wasn't as stiff as he usually was. He was more like himself. More comfortable.

 

Jisoo couldn't help but smile at him, the overhead lights that flashed different colors glossing her eyes which were fixed on Jin who had also been staring at her as well. Centimeters of distance separated them as people of different heights and different sizes continued to dance around them aimlessly.

 

Soon, some people started to exit the dance floor as a slow song began. The start of the song snapped the two teenagers out of their senses, popping the bubble that surrounded only them.

 

"Um" Jisoo says, looking around. She couldn't spot her friends or the rest of Bangtan. Jin noticed her looking and could tell that she was becoming nervous. He grabs her hand, pulling her into his chest. She doesn't resist, hiding her face in his chest in hopes that he won't notice the redness of her cheeks.

 

"Would you like to dance?" he asks softly, his feet working to the pace of the song as Jisoo tries to match his steps.

 

"Well we already are" Jisoo responds, trying her best not to slip up on her words or over her feet. She had never slow danced with a boy before, much less with a boy that she liked.

 

They danced around right in the middle of the gym as other couples gathered onto the dance floor to dance, floating around them.

 

Mark and Jimin stood off in a far corner, dancing to the music. Jimin laid his head onto Mark's chest, following his slow movements. Their bodies fit perfectly with each other just as much as their movements did, Jimin following Mark without missing a beat. Jimin's hand rested on Mark's back as his other hand attached itself to Mark's.

 

Mark laid a soft kiss onto Jimin's forehead before Jimin took him by the chin, leaving a kiss on his lips which Mark gladly returned. Every kiss they shared felt like their first. Sweet and never ending.

 

Rosé and Lisa, who stood close by along with the Bangtan boys, looked on at the interaction. It made Lisa's heart flutter. She couldn't put the feelings into words but she felt happy for them.

 

Yoongi had somehow got ahold of another cup of fruit punch, taking almost kitten like sips of it.

 

"What time is it?" he asked Namjoon. Namjoon glances at his watch, it reading 11:53.

 

"Almost 12" he responds.

 

Everyone was worn out for the night being that they had the pleasure to fully enjoy themselves. Taehyung , who's head rested on Jungkook's, looked on into the crowd and spots Jin and Jisoo slow dancing together and he wondered if Jungkook was seeing the same thing.

 

He looks up, catching a glimpse of Jungkook who's doe eyes were also fixed on the dance floor. Taehyung couldn't make out his expression but he was relieved that he was calm.

 

"They really do look good out there" Hoseok says to the rest, his back laid against the wall. At that, everyone's eyes focus on the dance floor and at their two friends dancing the night away.

 

Somehow, Jisoo's hand had snaked its way into Jin's and his head rested on Jisoo's as they danced, no longer following the beat of the music.

 

"I've been confused" Jin says.

 

"About?" Jisoo asks, looking up to meet eyes with her prince.

 

"Us."

 

She was confused as to what he meant by that. What was so confusing for him?

 

"I'm not gonna lie to you, my own feelings have been confusing me lately" Jin says. "And I didn't know how I felt about you or about whatever this is that we have."

 

Jisoo wasn't going to pretend that she understood him or how he felt but to some degree she could relate to him. After the moment her and Jennie had the other day she didn't know what she was feeling or who she was feeling it for.

 

But in that moment, as Jin looked deep into her eyes, she was almost certain.

 

Jennie, who had spent the entirety of the night in the bathroom, stood on the other side of the gym, looking on at her best friend who seemed so captivated by the boy that stood in front of her.

 

"Are they gonna kiss?" Hoseok asks excitedly, jumping around.

 

"Hopefully that'll be the end to this slow burn drama" Yoongi responds sarcastically.

 

Jungkook felt like a knife had cut into his heart as he removed himself from his spot against the wall, moving into the crowd.

 

"Jungkook?" Taehyung calls.

 

"Where's he going?" Namjoon asks, no one knowing the answer.

 

His feet moved quickly, like he was running out of time.

 

11:54.

 

He didn't want to wait for the clock to run out. He didn't want his opportunity to slip away from him just like that. Jungkook wasn't in his right mind in that moment and he honestly didn't know what he was doing but he knew why he was doing it.

 

11:55.

 

"Jungkook!" Taehyung calls again, running after him and pushing in between the crowd of people who were more irritated by the intrusion than welcoming.

 

Everyone, including Rosé and Lisa, were as confused as everybody else and didn't know whether to follow the two boys or wait for the outcome. Hoseok was the first to follow after them and then came the rest.

 

11:58.

 

"Jisoo" Jin says, his voice lowering as he cups her cheeks gently.

 

"We have all the time in the world, Jin" she says, clinging onto his shirt.

 

"This is very cliché of us" he responds, followed by a light chuckle.

 

She wants to respond to his remark but doesn't, letting her emotions do the talking for her. He tucks a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, leaning in for the anticipated action that had been expected all night.

 

11:59.

 

Jungkook pushes and shoves, not paying mind to the sly remarks made by the other students.

 

"Jungkook please," Taehyung pleas, grabbing onto the other's wrist. Jungkook snatches it away, continuing through the crowd.

 

Jisoo closes her eyes, waiting for whatever it was that was coming. Her heart beat a thousand times a minute, pictures of all the times they spent together, good and bad, flashing in her mind.

 

She expected it yet the action was so unexpected. His lips meet hers, his hands moving her cheeks to her back.

 

Their lips molded almost perfectly together. She tried her best to keep up since this was her first kiss and it was Jin's too yet he moved like an expert, catching her chin with his index finger and thumb, deepening the kiss.

 

Jennie pained so much yet she couldn't look away. But at the same time she felt sick to her stomach. She felt as if her world was falling apart in just one night.

 

Jungkook stops in his tracks, Taehyung close behind him. He was out of breath and unfortunately, out of time.

 

He looks on as his first crush and one of his best friends shares a kiss with another girl.

 

"Jungkook" Taehyung says, his heart breaking for his best friend. The others had finally caught up to them.

 

He was foolish.

 

He was foolish for not confessing when he had the chance and he was foolish for putting himself through all that he had gone through when it could've been avoided.

 

He felt his world crashing down on him for a second time, punishing him for ever having feelings for Jin.

 

The two hopeless romantics, both on opposite sides of the gym, watched as the thing they had unexpectedly feared the most became their reality.

 

12:00.

 

✰✩✰

 

**after twenty three chapters this arc has come to an end. i just wanna thank you guys for the support of this book thus far, i appreciate every read, every vote, and every comment. the school year is officially over and i'm exhausted. while i'm working on the next part of the story and taking a sort of "break" i might start another book but i dunno yet.**

**anyway thank you to those who continue to stick around and support my writing and i'll hopefully see you soon**

**\- love, kruu**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can’t believe i started this book in september and it’s the end of the school year now


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